Nova
by Great White Snake
Summary: I hate getting flashbacks of things I don't want to remember. I fought the war against the Kree, but the war won, and my family is gone. Now I endure, I survive on Earth, protecting these people even if I couldn't protect Xandar. (Follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe)
1. Chapter 1

Xandar. Capital of the Nova Empire and the Headquarters of the Nova Corps, the military wing of the Empire. Its luscious green grounds were home to a thriving, diverse, technologically advanced and socially liberal population. Unless you were in the Corps. It was governed by a stratocracy, its leader the Nova Prime. Our land was covered by dozens of clear oceans, pure white buildings rising up into the clean atmosphere. Three stars brightened our days, two yellow and one red, the source of inspiration for the emblem of our military. But now, the luscious green grasses were trampled and muddy, dead bodies strewn all over. The once clear waters were tainted with the brown of mud, the grey of our buildings' materials and the red blood of the people. The skies were dark and cloudy, but the view of those dense clouds was obstructed by ships, large hunks of floating metal from which poured thousands of Kree.

I was one of them. The Nova Corps. Dreamt of it since I was a child. My parents encouraged me to follow my dreams, to further progress the abilities that I'd been granted with at birth. By the age of five I could fly around the neighbourhood and float my way to school in minutes, I could lift my fathers shuttle by the time I was ten, and I was able to throw balls of energy at bullies by the time I finished school. With the Nova Corps I was given access to much more power. The helmet that each Nova held so dearly allowed me to crush Leviathan, protect shuttles and convoys of travelers and keep my planet, Xandar, safe.

But then they came, with their psyonic technology, and took what they wanted. Like evil conquerors. The main building was the first to go down. In a flash of bright purple, pieces of compound rock began flying everywhere, landing wherever it felt like: on the grass, on the buildings, in the waters, on the people of our planet. The Nova were on high alert. Hundreds of Corpsman, Millenian, Denarian and Centurion were deployed within seconds. But not me. I was home that day, visiting my parents and nowhere near the Headquarters. They weren't like me - my parents. They didn't have the strength and durability that I did, and so when a hunk of steel collapsed onto my home, there was no way they could've survived.

I spent only a few minutes crying, my soul breaking to pieces while I tried to pull myself from the debris of my house. It felt like years. Staring at the bloody inert bodies of my parents for minutes, felt like years. Feeling my stomach rip open on a sharp piece of metal for a few seconds, felt like hours. It was agonizing, pain I had never experienced or wanted to experience again. And my heart broke in two when I told myself there was nothing I could do for my parents any longer, and left them in the crumbled home. But they couldn't be saved, and the rest of my planet could. There was no fault in my actions.

Though the ground glistened as though rain had just fallen, its colour wasn't clear as water but red as blood. Screams rang through my ears, ear-splitting screams, soul-shattering screams. Men, women and children alike were strewn across the war-ravaged ground, some missing limbs, other barely even touched but still ghostly pale and dead. The sound of Xanarian energy weapons soon made it to my ears, over the war cries of the Kree and pleas of the dying. I kicked off the ground, flying as fast as I could towards Headquarters. Purple blasts of energy came close to my face a few times, once hitting me in the leg. It stung for a moment, but the pain coming from my abdomen drowned it out, a trail of blood following me as I went.

Hundreds of Kree had invaded the main building, its officers in their once pristine peacock blue uniforms now fighting for their lives in torn suits or lying inert on the ground in positions not usually possible for a Xandarian body. From the deceased I took an energy weapon, checking how full the cartridge was and I shot my way through a few dozen Kree, using others as body shields to make my way to the armoury. It wasn't a surprise that it too was being defiled by the blue aliens, Xandarian energy weapons being stuffed into lock-boxes. I shot a few others, but my cartridge ran out. I ducked behind a wall and grabbed one of their own weapons, its purple energy activating when both my hands were placed in the correct spots. It took another few minutes for me to get through them, but once I did I wasted no time in running towards the uniforms. All the uniform cartridges were spread across the floor, and a few helmets were as well. I grabbed a blue cartridge, for women, and my helmet, which was covered in dust but still in its compartment. The suit was on me in seconds. With a press of a button, the Xandarian biotechnology had taken the alloys in the cartridge and solidified them, creating a near-indestructible suit that clung to my body. I ran out of the Headquarters as I put on my helmet, and felt the rush of power from the Xandarian Worldmind surge through me.

Something went wrong in my mind at that moment. I think it was a combination of anger and grief, but my body wasn't taking me where I thought it was. Instead of joining the forces below, fighting off the Kree that had invaded our home, I rose to the skies and towards the ships that were still unloading hundreds of Kree. I shot down many of the ships, golden beams of energy firing from my hands as I maneuvered myself in and around the starships. Soon, the Kree that were in the sky retreated, and most of the Kree below were dead. But that wasn't enough. These monsters had murdered my parents and half of Xandar's population. There was no way I was going to let them get away with it.

"Ilaria!"

My head turned at the sound of my name. It was Abel, my dearest friend. Despite the glowing yellow eyes of the Xandarian Worldmind, I could tell that he was scared. And despite the yellow eyes on my face, he could see my fury and the bad decision I was about to make.

"You know if you go after them without orders you'll be classified a deserter! You can't disobey the Corps!"

"Fuck the Corps, Abel. I just watched my parents die."

"Well, what about me!? You're just gonna leave me here? You're not gonna be able to come back if you leave, Ilaria!"

There was no hesitation as I darted up towards the retreating ships. I ignored Abel's pleas and wove my way between the Kree ships, shooting energy beams at their weakest points. Once I reached the edge of the atmosphere I lowered my visor and turned on my built in oxygen tank, then plunged into the quiet darkness that was space. Stars littered the inky background on any normal day, but this time no stars were to be seen. There were more Kree ships than I had expected, and a few motherships were sailing off at a rapid speed. With a growl, I darted towards them, shooting golden beams at the Kree that dared to try and stop me.

"You are about to exit the limits of Xandar. Please turn back," a robotic voice said in her mind.

"Shut up, helmet!"

"If you do not turn back within 12.36578 seconds, the Nova Corps will be forced to classify you as a deserter and sentence you to a lifetime of imprisonment."

"Fucking bullshit..."

"Exiting Empire limits in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... All connection with the Nova Corps have been terminated. Please await your sentence."

I scoffed and followed the Kree motherships with incredible speed, destroying any smaller crafts that I could. However, with the connection to the Xandarian Worldmind gone, my power lessened and I wasn't able to detect enemy fire. A few dozen Kree struck me with their psyonic weapons at the same time and blasted me far off course. My energy was running low, and it was hard for me to stay properly awake. In and out of consciousness, I saw the Kree sail away, unscathed, ready to conquer another planet. And then it all went black.

I didn't know where I was when I woke up, but I was still breathing, which meant that my eight hour supply of oxygen hadn't gone out yet. I blinked and looked around. The stars were different from where I was last. They were closer together, and the cosmic dust that surrounded them was no longer the shades of pink, yellow and blue I was used to. Instead, they were shades of white and yellow. The Andromeda galaxy was far away now, and there was no way I'd be allowed to return.

I winced as I tried to move, the pain in my abdomen had gotten worse. If I didn't get this cut fixed soon, I would die from blood loss in the middle of space. Without the help of my helmet and the Xandarian Worldmind, I gathered up all the power I could muster and flew at supersonic speeds towards the unfamiliar white galaxy. Soon enough, something came into view. It was a small planet, smaller than my own, but the colouration was similar: it seemed dominated by water, with smaller areas of land. I squinted and gasped. Before me was the planet Earth.

I should have predicted that people would have picked up on my signal once I entered the atmosphere and created a sonic boom while doing so, but I didn't care. All I cared about was getting to a medical facility of some kind and getting my stomach closed up so that I didn't lose any more blood. I landed in what seemed to be a park. It was quite large and beautiful, large trees creating a decent amount of shade for the creatures that roamed this planet. Humans, I think they were called. Strange looks came my way which I realised were normal because of the Nova Corps uniform I was wearing, and tapped a place on my wrist to retract the suit from my body and refill the cartridge with it. My helmet, once I took it off, fell into the shape of a cloth, which I folded and placed in my pocket. It was only then that I was swarmed with concerned people, seeing the red liquid pour out of my stomach.

A nice boy ended up taking me to a medical facility. He couldn't have been older than ten, but he knew his way around this dump of a city like the back of his hand. I would have asked where his parents were, but I could feel my consciousness slipping away so I let the brown-haired boy lead me by the hand through the city. The smell of chemicals filled my nose as we entered a sterile, white building, where people came rushing towards me at the notice of the blood dripping on their floors. I was hauled onto a bed, where my body finally gave into the exhaustion, and my vision faded to black once more.

The sound of constant beeping woke me up. I was excessively groggy, my mind slower than it had ever been. I was in another sterile white room, machines whirring and beeping all around me. There was a quiet hum somewhere off in the building. Her breathing was loud too, louder than it should have been. Eventually, the grogginess left and the sounds all died down, only to be replaced the quiet humming of a child. I blinked a few times and turned my head, green eyes landing on the boy from earlier and an anxious looking woman.

"Hey, Aunt May! The lady's awake!"


	2. Chapter 2

Queens, New York

I woke up to the sound of guitar playing coming from my nightstand and footsteps running around outside my room. John Frusciante's distinct strumming came alive as my eyes opened and the classic Red Hot Chili Peppers song Can't Stop starts up properly. I reached over to my phone and turned off the alarm, pulling myself out of the twin bed I'd been sleeping in for the past two years. I walked past my folded helmet and suit cartridge on my out to the bathroom and dug out a simple dress from my closet. I avoided colliding with a small running boy by pivoting on the spot, and entered the bathroom to take a quick shower. I recoiled as the cold water hit my body but sunk down as it slowly got warmer. I let most of the water drip off my body before stepping out and drying myself off. I tied my hair up as much as I could after brushing the shoulder-length locks, then slipped on the dress. I hung the towel outside my room's window, using the dead electrical cables as a clothesline, and put on a simple chain before heading out to the kitchen.

May was already slaving away over the stove, flipping fluffy blueberry pancakes. I went to the refrigerator and took out maple syrup, orange juice and whipped cream, setting them on the small dining table beside the kitchen. May acknowledged me with a small smile and asked me to set the table with the rest of the utensils which I did in a few measly seconds.

"Did you sleep all right?" May asked.

"The usual," I replied. "Same old nightmare."

"The one where your parents..."

I nodded and May sighed, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly. There was a loud crash in the apartment and both of us rolled our eyes. May nodded her head towards the sound and I chuckled, standing up and walking towards the source of the racket. Eleven year old Peter Parker was hanging upside down from his bunk bed, wearing an Iron Man mask. An entire Lego blocks collection was spread out all over the ground.

"Kid, you're gonna get a world of hurt if you're not dressed and sitting at that table in five minutes," I said.

"Are you gonna give me a world of hurt?" Peter asked, his voice distorted by the mask.

"Hell, no. Aunt May is."

Peter gasped and dropped to the ground, running around everywhere. He stuffed his Lego bricks back into their container, threw the Iron Man mask back into his closet and ravaged it to find suitable clothing. I chuckled and helped the boy tie up his shirt, then he dashed out into the kitchen with a wide innocent smile plastered onto his face. May smiled knowingly at me as Peter sat down and began to stuff his face with pancakes.

"You walking him to school again?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's on my way to work," I replied, sipping on a cup of tea May had made for me.

"How's that going by the way? Still only an apprentice baker?"

"No, I've gone up the ranks a bit. Pascal's hired another assistant and apparently I'm qualified enough to train him now."

"That's great!"

"Hey, sis! Do you think you can bring me the leftover eclairs when you come back?" Peter asked, his mouth full of pancakes.

"Yeah, I'll ask Pascal if I can take a few."

"All right, Pete, enough with the whipped cream, you gotta go."

Peter jumped up from his seat and I used a damp cloth to wipe off all the maple syrup from his face before pushing him towards the door. We both put on our shoes and coat, and I grabbed Peter's backpack before we both headed out the door. I watched my feet take steps across the dirty sidewalk, my pristine leather flats next to Peters half-destroyed sneakers. It was like this every morning. Breakfast, bring Peter to school, go to work, grab Peter on my way back and give him whatever confection he'd asked for that day. This morning was no different. I dropped Peter off at school and handed him his bag. He hugged me tightly before leaving, bouncing up the sidewalk until he was safely inside the school. My walk to Café Madeleine wasn't much more eventful. A few people said hello to me on my way, regular customers at the bakery I worked at, and others simply stared at me for reasons I wasn't sure about.

The bakery smelled like Pascal's iconic lemon madeleines upon entering, and the tall thin man greeted me with a smile, hands full of custard. I went to the back and dropped all my things and returned to the front with an apron on. I washed my hands and the underside of my nails thoroughly before I got my hands on the almond financiers, the next item to bake on the list Pascal made every morning. The batter was completed and in the molds by the time the madeleines were out of the oven and cooling, so I took them out and dropped the financiers inside, setting a timer.

"'Ere is the custard for the Mille-Feuilles, Ilaria. Can you put it in the fridge and begin the, oh how do you say, the pâte feuilletée..."

"The puff pastry, Pascal," Ilaria corrected.

"Si, si ! The puff pastry!"

"I'll get right on it."

"Good. The other personne I 'ired is late and it was to be 'is job. Apparently, you are the only one I can trust, Ilaria."

I sighed and got on with the task Pascal had asked her to complete. It had been like this for a while. Ever since I was hired, Pascal had been hiring more people in the hopes of passing on his knowledge to others, but except for me, everyone else hadn't lasted more than a few weeks, either being fired or failing to show up to work completely. I had been his only permanent employee for the past two years.

All the pastries and desserts had been completed just before opening, and there was still no sign of Alex. Pascal went and opened up shop anyway, as I placed all the baked goods on display. On the top of the counter to my left, under domes of glass, were three cakes, and the other side Pascal had displayed two fruit tarts, under glass domes as well. It only took a few minutes for people to start wandering in. Most of the morning customers either bought croissants or viennoiseries for breakfast, to eat either here, as the many cozy tables on our terrasse or inside were free to be used by our customers, or taken to go to their place of work. Others came in to make special orders and some came in to get desserts for a party later in the day. In the afternoon, people often came in to simply have a sweet bite to eat and a cup of tea.

My shift was done at half past two in the afternoon, and Pascal kept the bakery open until four. I went to the back of the shop to hang my apron and grab my jacket before heading out the door with a box of eclairs for Peter. I said goodbye to a few customers on my out, smiling politely at them, and made my way down the busy streets of Queens to pick up Peter. His face lit up when he saw me, then his eyes got even bigger when he spotted to pastel blue box I was holding in my hands.

"Are those eclairs, sis!?" he practically shouted.

"Indeed they are, little man. But you can't have any until after dinner."

"Aw, come on, why not?"

"'Cause Aunt May will kill me if I feed you dessert before dinner."

"She doesn't have to know, Ilaria..."

I chuckled at the pouting boy and ruffled his hair as we walked back down to the apartment. Immediately, Peter went to do his homework on the kitchen table and I went in the kitchen to start prepping dinner for when May was to return from work. Homemade chicken pot-pie was on the menu, and the smell of buttery crust and cream sauce wafted through the apartment by the time May arrived. The small 'family' sat down to eat together, talking about our day. Peter had got the best grade on his science project, apparently, earning his class privileges for the rest of the week. He helped clean up the table and the kitchen, before he took a bath, watched a bit of television and went to bed. May and I hung out at the table, sipping tea.

"Alex, the new hire, he didn't show up today."

"I swear, Pascal should just give you a raise instead of hiring other people," May sighed.

"I'd agree, but we need to be more than two to run a bakery this size. And well, Pascal isn't getting any younger. Pretty soon it'll just be me and the bakery will have to close," I replied, then took a sip of tea. "I can't run a bakery on my own."

"You should reach out, yourself. Think about it. If you reached out to pastry schools nearby, you could get trained employees right off the bat. And I'm sure these students would love to get a job in their field right away."

"I think you're onto something, May..."

The next day after work I went to the nearest pastry schools and posted notices around the building and gave some to a few students that were coming out of the building. It took a few days, but eventually a few people had come to apply for a job at the bakery, and they were all pastry students. Pascal didn't know what to say, but the smile on his face said it all.

A week after that, there were two new hires at the bakery, Lorraine and Ian. The three of us worked really well together, and it happened that Pascal didn't show up to work because he knew we could handle it, but he'd always show up on Mondays and Fridays to make sure we'd opened and closed the week properly. Until he just... didn't. We learned one week later that Pascal Villemont had passed away in his sleep, heart stopping at half past three in the morning last Sunday. The Café Madeleine was left in the name of Ilaria Sable, Pascal's only trustworthy employee at the time of the creation of his will. For the past two years he had been grooming me to become his successor, knowing full well he had a heart condition that would take his life in the near future.

May placed a cup of tea in front of me as we sat at the kitchen table together, Peter playing video games in the living room.

"Lorraine and Ian are at the bakery now, don't worry," she said.

"That's not it," I said, wiping the tears that were falling from my eyes. "The bakery will do fine without Pascal, but I won't. I've been spending nearly every day of my life with that old bastard for the past two years. He was important to me."

"I know, sweetheart, I know..."

"Look, I've got to go close up shop. I still haven't taught Lorraine or Ian how. I'll be back later."

I threw on my coat over my sweater and slipped my feet into my shoes then stepped outside and walked to the bakery. It didn't take long for Lorraine and Ian to understand the protocol and to understand that I wasn't doing well at all. They continued their work in silence until their shift was over and I was left to close up shop. As I was packaging up leftover goods to bring home, a man walked in the door. I frowned. The door was locked. He was tall, imposing, and he wore a black trench coat that matched the eyepatch on his right eye.

"I'm sorry, we're closed for the day," I said, putting on my best smile. "We open at nine tomorrow morning if you want to come back."

"I'm not here for the pastries, though I have to admit you guys make a mean madeleine," the man said in a deep voice.

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Not here for getting kicked out either."

"Okay, then I'll have to forcibly remove you and I really don't wanna do that," I said, beginning to get irritated. I could feel my own power begin to bubble in my chest. "You don't really want me to do that either."

"That's true, I wouldn't like that much, miss Sable, but I doubt you're going to hurt me."

"Care to tell me how you know my name?"

"Have you ever heard of an organisation called S.H.I.E.L.D.?" the man asked, taking a few steps forward.

I suddenly got nervous. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been all over the news recently, especially since the billionaire Tony Stark had become Iron Man. It was known even to the Xandarians, and it was a fear of mine that they had me on their radar. After all, I was a potential threat to their planet and they wouldn't waste any time taking me out if they thought I was dangerous. I had probably been on their radar since the moment I broke through the atmosphere.

"Why are you coming to see me now? I've been on Earth for two years now. Did it really take you that long to determine if I was a threat?" I said sarcastically.

"No, we've known you were dangerous from the moment an alien crashed through our atmosphere. Times have changed, though. S.H.I.E.L.D. might need your help."

"My help?"

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers initiative."


	3. Chapter 3

Queens, New York

Two cups of tea were sitting on one of the tables of the dimly lit bakery. One was sitting in front of me, and my hands were constantly holding it, a semblance of comfort. And the other was in front of Nick Fury, current director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, otherwise known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Neither of us spoke, each of us waiting for the other to speak first. I took a sip of my tea and crossed my legs. If Fury was here, seeking out my help, something was wrong. Earth had a history creating things that could destroy itself, as well as people who could destroy the Earth they were on. S.H.I.E.L.D. was there to protect against these threats, but if they needed me - a superpowered Xandarian - then something otherworldly was threatening this planet.

"Do you know of Asgard, Miss Sable?" Fury asked.

"Do I know Asgard..." I scoffed. "Of course I do. Pompous idiots who think they're Gods. They live and die just like the rest of us, you know."

"Late last night the pompous idiot known as Loki arrived on Earth via a portal."

"Loki, brother of Thor? Him again? Didn't he make a scandal in the desert just last year - big metal giant?"

"Yeah, that's him. He stole something of ours and ran away with a scientist and an agent of ours," Fury said. He took out a tablet and began showing me pictures. First was of two men. "Dr. Erik Selvig and Hawkeye, an agent."

"I'm assuming Hawkeye is his codename." Fury nodded. "What'd Loki steal?" The man swiped left and a picture of a blue cube came on the screen. My eyes widened. "That's - that's the Tesseract."

"You know about it."

"The Xandarians have been doing research on this for decades. I'm assuming that's how he got here, too."

"Correct. We don't know what Loki wants yet, but I do know that Earth is going to need a response team."

"A response team? You're gathering freaks like me from all corners of the globe, aren't you? These people aren't soldiers in your little army. Thinking of calling up Tony Stark? Yeah, good luck getting him to obey. Thor? Last time I checked he was back up in Asgard. The only soldier you've got so far is me, and even then I'm not sure this soldier still answers to the call of war."

"I'd give you a speech about patriotism and saving your planet, but this isn't your home. But if you don't help us, the people who do live here, including those two swell people you live with, will die just like your parents."

"Are you threatening me, sir?" I asked, hands gripping my mug tighter.

"Just telling it like it is, miss Sable." Fury stood. "I spoke with Nova Prime recently. If you help us, the Xandarian government has agreed to let you reconnect with the Worldmind and regain your proper abilities. Permanently, regardless if you continue to aid us after this endeavour."

"You want me to do something, don't you?"

"Sharp mind, soldier."

Something about being called a soldier again didn't sit well with me, but Fury had a point. I couldn't just sit by and watch May and Peter get hurt. I couldn't save my parents, but I sure as hell could try and save my new family. I stood up and saluted, Xandarian style, placing my right palm on my left shoulder, creating half an x. My arm stiffly returned to my side.

"What am I to do, sir?"

"Convince a soldier that the war still needs him."

* * *

Brooklyn, New York

There was an old gym on a street corner that had been open since the Second World War. The front was dilapidated, the pine green paint peeling off the wood, and its windows were like a tarnished mirror, cloudy and grimy. The inside was musty, hard on my weakened lungs and immune system, but she could understand why this man would be in here. I could hear him punching bags in the distance, loud pounding and heavy grunting. When I got down to the basement, I leaned in the doorway and waited until he noticed me. She seen comics and movies of Captain America, thanks to Peter, but meeting him in person was quite different. Watching him move real-time was much more impressive than seeing a choreographed fighting sequence of a fake Hitler. Seeing his muscles contract every time his fist came into contact with the punching back was fascinating, the embodiment of Stark Industries' developments even in the forties. Of course, he was a human experiment and I didn't condone that, but it was still fascinating what primitive creatures like humans could accomplish when given just a little bit of power. Steve Rogers turned to me when the punching bag he was hitting came off its hinges and crashed into the opposite wall. He was having flashbacks of the war - I could tell.

"Remembering things you don't want to, eh?" I said, taking a few steps closer to him.

"You with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Rogers asked.

"Started yesterday. Fury asked me to talk to you, sir."

"He asked you? No offense, but why didn't Fury just come himself?"

"He said you'd need a little convincing. A little heart to heart from a fellow soldier."

"You were in the Howling Commandos?" he asked, perplexed.

"I'm not even gonna pretend I know what that means," I chuckled, lifting up a two-hundred pound punching bag and hanging it in front of Rogers. His perplexed look only intensified. "I was a soldier, but not here. Not on Earth. Where I'm from, war came to us at least every ten years. My planet was attacked solely because of the tech we had - it was good for resale and use. I fought in one of those wars, a war that cost me half my planet's population and my entire family. I couldn't protect them even if I wanted to. It's been two years and I still have problems sleeping.

"How long's it been since you been out of the ice?"

"A year."

"Still got trouble sleeping?"

"Slept for seventy years, Ma'am. I think I've had my fill," Rogers replied, adjusting the bandages on his hands.

"Ma'am... makes me sound old," I chuckled. "Look, if you've had your fill why don't you go out and celebrate, live?"

"When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up - they tell me we won. Forgot to mention how much we lost."

"Yeah, you humans fucked up some shit on the way. It's not all bad, though," I admitted.

"You here with a mission from Fury, Ma'am?"

"Something's threatening the planet or some shit and he needs us."

I approached Rogers and handed him the folder I'd been holding. It was filled with the same information Fury had given me the previous day.

"H.Y.D.R.A.'s secret weapon," he said, and I could only assume he was talking about the Tesseract.

"Apparently, Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you," I said, recalling all the information I'd read. "He thought what humans today think. The Tesseract would be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something Earth really needs."

"Who took it?"

"A pompous idiot called Loki. Alien, just like me, but he talks fancier. For the record, we're not from the same place. Anyway, there's a lot that S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to tell the both of us and that's all I was allowed to give you. There's a briefing packet at your apartment - no, I didn't leave it there. One last thing I was supposed to ask... anything about the Tesseract S.H.I.E.L.D ought to know about?"

"They should have left it in the ocean."

I scoffed. Tell me about it.

* * *

Somewhere in New Jersey

The bakery was closed for the weekend, so I was safe for now, but telling May and Peter that I was out for the weekend because legal dealings because of Pascal's death hurt me to say. However, this S.H.I.E.L.D business was more than covert and there was no way that I was going to get those two involved. That morning, I packed a large duffel bag with some clothes, my suit and my helmet, then flew towards an empty field where a cloaked plane was waiting for me. Inside, Steve Rogers was sitting there already reading through some important information, two men were flying the plane and an agent in a suit walked up to greet me.

"Nice to meet you, miss Sable. I'm Agent Coulson," the man said, holding out his hand to shake.

"Likewise," I said simply, taking his hand. He then handed me a tablet similar to Rogers' and told me to take a seat. "Homework?"

"It's essential you read through all of it. It's got information on the others we've recruited and the mission at hand."

I spent the next hour or so reading through the material that Agent Coulson had given me. There was information on Iron Man, Captain America who was sitting right beside me, a giant green creature called the Hulk, two shield agents that went by the names Romanoff and Barton, who was the compromised agent that Loki had taken. There was also information on Thor, but it was much more scarce than everyone else. There was also information on me, which was even more scarce since S.H.I.E.L.D. had never seen me in action. The only footage of me they had was the silhouette of my body crashing through the atmosphere.

"Gamma radiation? So primitive..." I whispered, reading up on Dr. Banner, aka. the Hulk. "No wonder the serum replication tests didn't go his way. It was already a miracle that Howard Stark managed to make a compound."

"Why were they trying to replicate it in the first place?" Rogers asked.

"A lot of people did. You were the world's first superhero," Coulson replied.

"I'm surprised that he failed though. By Earth standards, he seems like a real Stephen Hawking," I noted. Rogers looked confused. "He's a real smart person. Jeez, I'm an alien and I know more about this place that you?"

"You know, it's really an honour to have you here," Coulson said to Rogers. I raised a brow, amused. "Oh, uh, I hope you don't mind we made a few modifications to your uniforms. I had a little design input."

"No offense, but I'll be using my own suit, thanks. I don't think Earth has technology advanced enough for me, unless you cooperated with the Xandarians on this?"

"Uh, no, we didn't-"

"I'll be sticking to my own suit, then."

The jet landed only a few minutes later. Rogers and I each grabbed our duffel bags and exited the plane onto the tarmac. There were hundreds of agents crawling on the landing strip, but there was only one I was interested in. Walking up to us was a woman we'd seen in our briefing just now.

"Agent Romanoff - Captain Rogers and Centurion Sable," Coulson said, introducing us.

"Ma'am," Rogers greeted.

Romanoff and I nodded to each other.

"Sir, they need you on the bridge; they're starting the face trace," the woman told Coulson.

"See you there."

Coulson left immediately, leaving Agent Romanoff to guide Rogers and I towards wherever we needed to go. The woman's stern expression left as soon as Coulson did, replacing it with a small smile.

"It was quite the event here, finding you in the ice. Thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage - he's very proud."

"I thought I smelled fanboy on him," I chuckled.

Up ahead I spotted Dr. Banner, looking quite nervous, bumping into people as he tried to observe the Helicarrier that they had landed on. I jogged up ahead.

"Dr. Banner."

His head immediately turned towards the sound of my voice, and seeing a face he recognised from the briefing, the tension in his body seemed to loosen. He walked up to Rogers, Romanoff and I, hands wringing nervously, but he held out his hand to shake mine.

"Oh, yeah, hi," he said in a soft voice. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word on the street is that you can find the cube," Rogers announced as we all stepped off deck.

"Is that the only word out on me?"

"Only one I care about," I admitted.

"Must be strange for you, all this? Both of you."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Captain Rogers said.

"And I have technology far more advanced where I'm from, Doctor."

"How advanced? Are we talking nanotechnology advanced or?"

"We're talking taking liquefied alloys binding to your skin to create a near indestructible solid substance."

"Wait, are you talking about your suit?" Banner asked.

"You bet your ass I am," I chuckled.

Romanoff lead Banner, Rogers and I through a few hallways. I could see all the metal crossbeams of the ship holding it together. I scoffed. It was primitive technology compared to her own, but it was still quite impressive for humans. Eventually, we were lead to the bridge. A large window allowed everyone in the room to view what was directly in front of the Helicarrier, and numerous screens allowed the agents to monitor what was going on around on the ship. Each agent was speaking to each other through earpieces. Banner, Rogers and I were lead to a long table nearby, which looked over all the operations happening on the bridge. Fury arrived and we immediately began talking.

"Everyone," he greeted. He turned to Banner. "Thank you for coming, Doctor."

"Thank you for asking nicely. So, um, how long am I staying?" Banner asked.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind."

"And how are we on that?" I asked, sitting on the table. Fury pointed to Coulson.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite it's eyes and ears for us."

"It's still not gonna find them in time," Romanoff stated.

"You have to narrow your field. How many Spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asked.

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to get their Spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for Gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we can rule out a few places."

"And I can narrow it down further. I deal with regular and cosmic energy with my abilities, I can probably amp up the Gamma rays when I have access to my full power," I added in. "Is there a place Banner and I can work?"

"You and Banner? You sure you don't want to be on the front lines, Sable?" Fury asked.

"Look Fury, you said that the priority was to find the Tesseract, right? Well, then let's find the Tesseract. If you want me to blast holes in people after its found, then we can talk."


	4. Chapter 4

"Suit up, Sable. We got him."

I acknowledged him, then pressed the button on my earpiece to shut off Fury's voice. I went to my duffel bag and pulled out a thin body suit. Banner looked at me surprised, when I hid behind a divider in the lab and switched out of my regular clothes. He averted his gaze from by tight outfit when I came back out and I chuckled. I threw my clothes into my bag and pulled out a small cartridge and a piece of fabric, which both confused the Doctor.

"Take a look, Doc."

I clicked the cartridge onto my wrist and pressed a button atop it. In mere seconds, the liquid allow traveled to all points in my body, up until my neck, then it solidified into a malleable, metallic substance. Banner's eyes were wide with fascination. It was fun to watch. Then I held the cloth in the palm of my hand and it suddenly bulked up, forming a golden metallic helmet with a red six pointed star on its forehead.

"That looks like a roman Centurion mask," Banner noted.

"Where do you think the Romans got it, eh?"

I untied my hair as I made my way down to the bridge, letting my hair fall down to my shoulders. It bounced as I jogged, movements making little to no sound even in my suit. When I got to the bridge, Fury was directing Rogers where to go for his suit. They both looked at me and, as if suddenly realising I was the only one in a skin-tight suit, I felt self-conscious.

"Quit staring, man. This is normal to Xandarians, so don't make me feel self conscious!"

"Sorry, ma'am," Rogers said, red-faced, heading off towards the armoury.

"And quit calling me ma'am!"

After Rogers had his suit on, I put on my helmet to calibrate it with S.H.I.E.L.D's communications. The second I put my helmet on, the power of the Xandarian Worldmind surged through me, and my eyes began to glow golden. The man beside me looked at me, perplexed. I chuckled and shook off the excitement from my limbs, jumping in place. I thought I hadn't missed the war, the fighting, but right now, it was the one thing that I looked forward to the most. Maybe there was also a slight urge to kick an Asgardian in the ass for all the trouble they 'cause in politics meetings up in Xandar.

The jet they used approached Loki's location silently, and Rogers, with his new Captain America suit on, followed. I floated silently behind him as we approached.

"Do you always float? Can't you walk?"

"It's quieter this way," I shrugged, watching as the Asgardian made everyone kneel before him, save one man

Just as Loki shot a beam of energy at the man, I jumped down with Rogers and deflected the beam, sending it back to Loki. The Asgardian chuckled slowly, dangerously, and stood up, looking at the Star Spangled hero and I.

"Ah, the soldier," he said in a thick Asgardian accent, looking at Rogers. Then he turned to me. "Ah, and a Nova. Wait... is that you Ilaria?"

"Shut up, Loki and put down the scepter," I said, trying to blow over his last sentence.

"You know this punk?" Rogers asked, suddenly weary of me.

"Not the time, Spangles."

Suddenly, the quinjet came back around with Natasha standing in the hangar. She shouted for for Loki to drop the scepter as well, but he refused and demanded them all to kneel. When we didn't, Loki began firing at the jet which banked hard to avoid it. Loki shot at Rogers and I, but I took a step forward and deflected it, sending the shot of energy back at him. Then Captain America leaped forward and began fighting the Asgardian hand-to-hand. I flew up into the hair to get a better shot at him, but like Romanoff said in the comms, Loki was so all over the place that it made it hard to take a shot. All of a sudden, an AC/DC song began playing in my helmet and Iron Man flew nearby.

"Miss me, Agent Romanoff?"

I couldn't help but smirk at the choice of music and the childishness of this man, but it was lucky that he came. Loki was temporarily stunned and confused by what was happening, which gave Stark and I the opportunity to strike. He shot a bolt of energy from his suit and I from my hand, and they both collided with Loki's chest, sending him flying on his back. Stark and I stood side by side.

"Make a move Reindeer Games," Stark said.

"Reindeer Games was such a bad movie, man," I said, pointing my palm at Loki, ready to strike.

"Centurion."

"Mr. Stark."

Loki raised his hands in surrender, watching me intently. His appearance shifted immediately, going from his royal Asgardian robes to the outfit you'd use to train. It was still as sleek and regal at the other suit, but it made him look a lot less ridiculous with the horns gone. I shifted on my spot and went to retrieve Loki, handing him to Romanoff so that she could tie him up and detain him.

"That's a nice suit you got there," Stark said, retracting his helmet. "Nanotech?"

"Why does everyone think it's nanotech?" I sighed, following Romanoff into the quinjet.

"So, it's not nanotech?"

"No, and I'm not tell you what it is."

"I'm sure Banner, knows."

"No, he doesn't."

"He does," the Captain confirmed.

"Rogers!" I said, giving him a scandalised look, to which he just chuckled at.

The jet was in the air within seconds, and I sat across from Loki, staring him down as he did the same to me. I could hear Rogers and Stark discuss Loki's easy surrender, and I had to admit that he had given himself up way too easily. I knew him to be more elusive, more evasive than that. Loki smirked.

"You haven't changed."

"Shut up, Horn Head. You're the one who hasn't changed."

"You know each other?" Rogers asked again, finally wanting his answer.

"Unfortunately." Loki mocked being hurt and I pulled a face at him. "Just before I left Xandar I was sent as a messenger to Asgard to broker a deal with them to fight against the Kree. Space aliens with blue skin," I added, noting their confusion. "Met this dunce and his brother Thor while I was talking to their father."

"You and Rock of Ages seem pretty friendly though," Stark said.

"Had to kill time with someone while the all mighty Odin talked to his council, right?" I said sarcastically. "There was no way I was gonna hang out with Thor. Pompous blonde..."

Just then, a bolt of lightning cracked through the sky. Loki leaned back in his seat and I stood immediately. I put my helmet back on and walked up between Romanoff and the pilot, looking out at the sky. She looked up at me, confused. Rogers turned to a seemingly nervous Loki.

"What's wrong - afraid of a little bolt of lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

"Shit. Above us!"

All of a sudden a weight landed on to of the quinjet, shaking its entirety. Everyone looked up nervously at the ceiling of the aircraft as Stark pushed the button to open the hangar. He nodded at me to follow him out, and so I stood beside him, ready to jump as a man landed on the open hangar door. He was tall, blond and muscular. I almost groaned at the sight of him. Stark went to fire a pulse of energy at him, but Thor smacked him with his hammer and he went flying. Thor disregarded me and grabbed Loki, using his hammer to fly out of the quinjet. I sighed angrily and ran, jumping off the edge of the hangar door and flying off after him. Stark followed soon after.

"Heads up!" I shouted, as I smashed into Thor.

We flew a few hundred feet before we crash landed into a nearby forest. It took us a moment to get back up, but the second that we both faced each other, Thor growled and went to attack me.

"Do not touch me again."

I put up my hands in surrender.

"The hell, Thor, it's me!"

"I do not know who you are, mortal," Thor replied, voice booming across the forest. I removed my helmet and he blinked. "Ilaria? Is that you?"

"Yes! It's me you idiot!"

"What are you doing on Earth?"

"Long story. Right now, I'm taking your brother to S.H.I.E.L.D so he can explain to us why he took the Tesseract and where it is," I explained.

"Oh, then our goals are aligned. I apologise for-"

All of a sudden, Stark rammed into Thor as well. I pursed my lips and sighed, hands on my hips. This was going to be interesting... Thor stood up moments later, angrier than he was before. To my left, Cap had a hold of Loki, so what wasn't a problem.

"Stark, did you have to ram into him?"

"He touched my stuff," the billionaire reasoned.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with," Thor stated.

"Uh, Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, Metal Man. The only one here that could help is Ilaria. She bears the power and soul of Xandar. Even so, Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"If he gives up the cube he's all yours. Until then, stay out of the way."

"Guys, we're all on this list that Fury made to help get back the stone. So how about we just - throw hammers, I guess."

Thor had thrown his hammer at Stark while his back was turned, which sent him flying and crashing into a tree. Rogers and Loki seemed to be enjoying this from afar. Then Stark blasted Thor which sent him flying in turned, but before it could go any further, I stepped in between the two and sent my own pulses of energy at the both of them. Stark and Thor both landed on their backsides, and stared up at me, surprised.

"That's enough, children!"

"I have come to put an end to Loki's schemes, Ilaria!"

"Then prove it. Put that damned hammer down - on the ground."

Thor obeys and puts the hammer down.

"Good. Now let's get Horn Head on the quinjet."

* * *

Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor and I were all called to the bridge while Fury and numerous guards escorted Loki to a large glass and steel containment cell at the base of the Helicarrier. Everyone was watching on screens in the table and listening with the small speaker at the center of the table. It felt odd seeing Loki in a cage. Last time she'd seen him he was roaming the gardens of the Asgardian palace trying to avoid people.

"In case its unclear, you try to escape - you so much as scratch that glass," Fury began, then pressed a button that opened a hatch underneath the cell. "Thirty thousand feet down in a steel trap. You see how that works?"

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard," Loki said, staring straight into the camera in his cell. It was like he was staring at me. And while everyone looked at Bruce, I simply kept staring at Loki. "A mindless beast - makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" Fury echoed. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause its fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be happy that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you that I've come this close, to have the Tesseract, to have power - unlimited power, and for what?" Loki smiled at the camera again. "A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."

The screen closed and I chuckled.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve said. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri."

"Shit," I whispered.

"They are not of Asgard, or Xandar, or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army... from outer space?"

"The Chitauri are a powerful, reptilian warrior race, a hybrid between organic beings and machines," I said, standing up to walk around the table. "They have superhuman physical attributes, energy-based rifles and flying vehicles." I faced Steve, serious. "You better start believing in aliens, Steve. 'Cause whether you believe in them or not, if you underestimate them, their sheer numbers will decimate the Earth."

Steve nodded, solemn. The weight of the upcoming war was pressing down on our shoulders, breathing down our necks - no wonder everyone was nervous, silent.

"So, what're they doing? Building another portal?" Bruce asked, taking off his glasses. I nodded. "So, that's what they need Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor inquired.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Loki has him under some sort of spell," Natasha said. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve stated.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor interrupted. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," I said, deadpan.

"You know he's adopted."

I rolled my eyes at Thor.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need Iridium for?" Bruce asked.

"It's a stabilising agent," Tony said, entering the room with Coulson. They finished up their hushed conversation and he turned back to us, walking past me to Fury's command spot. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Also, means the portal can stay open as long as Loki wants," I sighed.

"Ten points to Sailor Moon." Confused, I mouthed Tony's words to myself as he turned to the bridge staff. "Ah, raise the mizzen mast, ship topsail!"

"Dude, Fury's not a pirate."

"Did she just 'Dude' me? And that man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

I glanced to where Tony was pointing and sure enough, someone was playing the vintage game. I scoffed and shook my head. Odd man, Tony Stark. He covered one eyes with his right hand and began looking around.

"How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns his head," a female agent replied.

"Sounds exhausting."

"Anyway..." I sighed. "Since he has the stabilisers, doesn't that mean Loki just needs something to kickstart the Tesseract?"

"High density power source, yeah."

"When did you two become experts on thermonuclear astrophysics?" the woman asked, irritated.

"Last... night - was I the only one who read the resource material on the Tesseract?"

"I did too," I said calmly.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He'd have to heat the cube to 120 million kelvin just to break the Coulomb barrier," Banner explained.

"Unless Selvig figured out how to stabilise the Quantum tunneling effect..." Tony continued, walking towards the doctor.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor."

"Finally someone who speaks English!"

"Human science is beyond me..."


	5. Chapter 5

There was a long moment where Bruce and Tony spoke only together about things that I didn't understand. There were a few terms I was familiar with, but the majority of it was simply Earth-based science that I didn't comprehend at all. Steve and I stared at each other for a moment, confused, listening to Tony talk about the Hulk, then Fury walked in and broke up the bromance.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you'd join him, Mr. Stark," Fury said.

"I'd start with that stick of his," Steve said. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a H.Y.D.R.A. weapon."

"I'm not so sure about that," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "The staff reads differently than the things I've read about H.Y.D.R.A. weapons."

"Well, in any case, I'd still like to know how that thing turned two of the sharpest men I know into his two personal flying monkeys," Fury stated.

"Monkeys?" Thor commented, confused. "I do not understand-"

"I do!" Steve exclaimed. "I understood that reference."

Everyone stared at Steve for a moment, confused, and I snorted. Everything up to date was too 'modern' for him, understanding this Wizard of Oz reference was probably quite satisfying to him. Tony frowned and looked back to Bruce.

"Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir," Bruce said, showing Tony the way. He turned back to me. "You wanna join? I could use your more precise energy readings on this."

"On my way."

I grabbed my helmet and followed Bruce and Tony down the halls towards Bruce's lab. Agents stared at the three of us and I could tell that I wasn't the only one uncomfortable. Tony didn't even notice it, but Bruce shrunk under their stares and I was reminded about my time in the Corps. The second I was promoted to Denarian, people wouldn't stop staring. Apparently I was too young for the rest of the Nova Corps. That wasn't the case this time. It was probably because we were the ones, the freaks, that Fury had hired. I was thankful to step into the lab and get away from their stares.

Loki's scepter was already placed on a stand on an examination table in the lab when we walked in. Tony immediately pulled up holographic charts and gauges to track the cube, and Bruce took out some sort of machine and began scanning the scepter. I stared at its glowing blue core, tilting my head. I frowned.

"The Gamma readings are definitely consistent with Dr. Selvigs reports," Bruce said. "But it's gonna take weeks to process."

"Not if we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster - we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops," Tony corrected. Seeing my face he continued. "Or Sable can tell us why she's making that face."

"Something wrong?"

"It's not that something is wrong..."

I put my helmet on and hovered my hands over the scepter. The was a warmth on the palms of my hands as they sat above the glowing blue core of the weapon.

"It's that this power is familiar to me."

"Familiar?"

"Yeah, it's sort of like my own, but it isn't. The Nova Corps dealt with this kind of power, or items with this kind of power. I never dealt with it personally, but when something this powerful passes you in a hallway, trust me, you feel it. This shit is cosmic."

"You know, you two should come by Stark Tower some time. Top ten floors - all R and D. You'd love it, it's a candy land," he said pointing to Bruce. Then he turned to me. "And you could learn more about human tech."

"Sounds like a plan," I smiled, looking at my readings on the viewing screen.

"Thanks but... last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem," Bruce said sheepishly.

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises-" Tony said, then suddenly zapped Bruce in the side.

"Tony," I said as if reprimanding a child.

"What do you think you're doing?" Steve demanded, as he barged into the room.

"Nothing?" Tony continued, studying Bruce for a reaction.

"Are you nuts?"

"Wow, you've really got a lid on it. What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, a huge bag of weed?"

Bruce and I chuckled, continuing with our readings.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked, irritated.

"Funny things are," Tony replied.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc."

"It's fine," Bruce said. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tip-toeing big man, you need to strut."

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."

I tuned everything out as something beeped in my mind. I looked over to the screen that was displaying the readings from my helmet. I frowned. The graphs were moving, data changing every few seconds. I turned back to Tony and Steve.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now, why not earlier? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation until I have all the variables."

"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve asked.

"He's a spy," I scoffed, agreeing with Tony. "Steve, he's the spy. His secrets probably have secrets." I gestured to Bruce. "It's probably bothering you too, right?"

"Uh, um, I'm just here to do my work," the doctor stammered.

"Doctor?"

"'A warm light for all mankind'? Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for you," Bruce said, pointing to Tony who offered he and I a blueberry. I was confused as to where he got them from, but I took one nonetheless. "Even if Barton didn't know about the Tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly building in New York?"

Tony gave him a look.

"I mean, that makes sense," I admitted, thinking it over. "Its powered by an arc-reactor, right? A self-sustaining energy source. Your building can run itself for what, a year?"

"Yeah, and it's just the prototype." Tony turned to Steve. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, that's what they're getting at."

"So... why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring Tony in on the Tesseract project?" I gave Bruce and Tony a baffled look. "Why are they even in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files," Tony said, to which I shot him a smile. He pointed at me, a playfully accusing finger. "You're doing it too, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry did you say-"

"This bucket head has been running files since I connected to S.H.I.E.L.D's communications," I said, tapping my golden helmet. "You?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S. has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty little secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has to hide." He extended his bag of blueberries to Steve. "Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around," Steve said, ignoring the blueberries.

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence. Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve stated. I couldn't deny that fact. "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following orders is all good, Steve. I understand that, I mean, from soldier to soldier," I said, standing up from my seat. "But if the order is given from someone iffy... then I tend to not follow it and do a little digging."

"Besides, following isn't really my style." Tony turned to me, brows furrowed. "You were a soldier?"

"Think I'm called Centurion Nova for kicks?" I scoffed. "Look, Steve, don't you think any of this is at least a little fishy?"

"Just find the cube."

Steve exited the laboratory, paused, then turned and left in a different direction from which he came. I sighed. We hadn't even started the mission and we were already at odds with each other. I turned and stared at Loki's scepter, leaning towards it, its glowing blue energy reflecting in the green of my eyes. I frowned. The signature coming off this thing was similar to something the Nova had encountered years ago when an army of savage aliens attack the Corps. They didn't leave with anything, as what they were probably looking for was sent off and hidden, but I had a feeling it was connected. This kind of power couldn't just have happened to be in my presence once before. I don't believe in coincidence.

"That's the guy my father never shut up about?" Tony scoffed, returning to his readings. "Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

"Hm, guy's not wrong about Loki though," I added looking up at Tony from my position. "He does have the jump on us, and even I don't know what's going on through that guy's head."

"What he's got, is an ACME dynamite kit," Tony said sarcastically. "It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"I'll read all about it," Banner chuckled.

"Or you'll be suiting up with us."

Bruce looked at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"Now, you see, I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed, like a nerve - it's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster shrapnel trying to claw its way into my heart. But this stops it-" Tony tapped the miniature arc reactor on his chest "-this little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armour. It's a terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different."

"Hey, I read all about your accident. That much Gamma exposure should've killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk - the Other Guy - saved my life? That's a nice sentiment. Saved it for - what?"

"Does it matter?" I piped up, tearing my gaze away from the scepter. "If it does, then I guess we'll find out. And, if its any consolation, without this helmet, I'm nearly confined to a hospital bed. The Nova are so dependent on their power once they've begun to use it daily. I get dizzy, disoriented when I exert myself, I blackout and pass out, I'm prone to excessive nausea - and that's something I can't control. I know it's not breaking Harlem out of control, but it still hinders my everyday life."

Just then the door to the laboratory opened and Natasha walked in. Tony, Bruce and I looked at her expectantly.

"Sorry to interrupt this sharing of weaknesses, but I need to borrow Ilaria," she said simply.

"What for?" I asked, taking a few steps towards her.

"We're going to have a little chat with Loki."


	6. Chapter 6

Neon lights flickered above me as I floated beside Natasha, heading towards the cell in which Loki was being kept. I'd would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't nervous. Luckily my training in the Nova Corps allowed me to control my outward expressions, but it didn't change or subdue the anxiety swirling in my stomach. I hadn't done this kind of thing in years, interrogation even longer ago - my first assignments had been interrogation, and I'd requested a transfer for a reason. For it wasn't Loki that made me nervous, although I knew full well that he'd attempt to strike a nerve, it was myself. Achieving what I wanted was a must, and it was known for me to do anything in my power, no matter how gruesome, to get what I wanted. While on duty I was somebody completely different. The Nova Corps made sure that the second you put the helmet on, you were their soldier through and through. At least this time, I wasn't fighting for the Nova, and I had Natasha's lead to follow anyway, so things would most likely be smooth sailing. Though the anxiety never left.

It was silence that approached Loki once they passed the threshold to the cell's room. It took only a few moments for Loki to sense Natasha and I, and I heard him chuckle softly when he did.

"There's not many people who could sneak up on me," he said slowly, his Asgardian accent really pulling through.

"But you figured we'd come," Natasha stated more than asked.

"Ilaria, yes. We have a rapport of sorts. You... After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."

"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind."

"We both know that's not true, Loki," I scoffed. I took a few steps forward. "Because once you've won, once you're king of the mountain - what happens to his mind?"

Loki looked from me to Natasha and stared at her face for a moment.

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children," she said candidly. "I owe him a debt."

"Tell me."

I glanced at Natasha and she blinked slowly, signaling me to roll with it.

"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I uh, well, I made a name for myself, Natasha began, leaning on the railing outside the cell. "I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E. radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked, taking a seat at the back of his cell.

"Not let you out," I commented, giving the Asgardian a deadpan look.

"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regime's fall everyday, Loki," I stated. Loki's gaze turned to me. "I tend not weep over that considering Xandar has been decimated over a dozen times and bounced back. Besides, she's Russian."

"Used to be," Natasha corrected.

"And what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire?" I heard Natasha's breath hitch in her throat. "Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child, a prayer. Pathetic." Loki walked up to the glass. I stayed put, green eyes staring at his own, but Natasha was starting to back up, fearful. "You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away."

Loki slammed his fist on the glass walls of his cell, and I was trying very hard not to get angry. My hand was twitching with energy, and I wanted to slam him into the opposite wall for saying these things to Natasha, but in the state he was in, he was going to slip and say something he wasn't supposed to.

"I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. Natasha becomes scared out of her mind. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, Natasha turns away from Loki in horror. and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

Natasha turned away, teary-eyed and horrified at Loki's words. Soft sobbing makes its way to my ears.

"You're a monster..." she said softly.

"No... You brought the monster."

I smiled, and at the same time, Natasha turned back around looking completely fine.

"So, Banner? That's your play?" I asked, giving Loki and innocent look.

"You were right. Playing the victim card worked wonders," Natasha said.

"Like he said himself - we have a rapport."

I smiled at him and Natasha and I exited the room, alerting someone through her earpiece. She asked that Banner be kept in the lab and that Thor be sent there as well. For some reason, something was telling me that all of us being in the same room as that scepter wasn't the best idea, especially considering that the last time, the energy readings seemed to be reacting to what they were saying, or feeling. If they were all in the same room together, who knows what that could do? And the second Natasha, Thor and myself entered the Lab, tensions were already high.

"You knew about this?" Bruce asked, pointing to what looked like a missile.

Natasha glanced at it, and so did I, but the readings my helmet were giving me on the scepter were far more interesting to me than feeble human weapons.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha said, looking wearily at him.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed," Banner chuckled humourlessly.

"Loki is manipulating you."

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Banner approached the table and swung out the board with the missile. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Wait, what!?" I said, tearing my gaze from the scepter.

"We're trying to harness it because of her -" Fury pointed me "- and him." Fury pointed Thor. "Two years ago, an alien crashed through our atmosphere and infiltrated our society. We know nothing of her powers and little of where she comes from. Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly hilariously, out-gunned."

"Our people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor said, then looked to me. "And the Nova have been galactic protectors of Earth for millennia."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Oh, like you can control the Tesseract?" I scoffed. "That power is cosmic!"

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor stated. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve asked.

"You forced our hand! We had to come up with some-"

"Nuclear deterrent - always a good plan!" Tony said sarcastically.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury jabbed.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-"

"Wait-Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me, Spangles?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

I groaned and shook my head, tapping my helmet in a certain spot to block out all noise and turned back to the scepter. I pulled up the readings and cursed loudly, not that anyone heard me. The energy levels were rising considerably, almost spiking, and all of a sudden, it began to glow blue, a cloud of cosmic blue energy beginning to flow out if it like a cloud of dust. Something beeped in my mind and I glanced to my left, inside the helmet. Eyes wide, I turned back to everyone and shouted the loudest I could. They all turned to me, surprised, but quiet. I tapped my helmet to turn the exterior sounds back on.

"You better have a good reason for yelling 'motherfucker' that loud," Fury demanded.

"The energy levels on this scepter are spiking with each jab at each other, and you wanna know what else? We found the Tesseract!" I pointed to the screen which indicated the cube was nearby. "Do you wanna know why its so close? Because this scepter is a beacon. We're being tracked and in a few seconds, something is going to blow up."

"Blow up?" Banner asked.

"Yeah, someone's gonna-"

There was a low rumble and then everything exploded. Fire erupted from the floor in the middle of the lab, and everyone in the lab went flying in different directions. Fury and Thor fell to the ground behind a table. Tony, Steve and I were blown to the entry way. Bruce and Natasha flew out the lab and into the lower equipment room. Smoke clouded my vision as I stood, wobbly on the unstable part of the ship. Tony and Steve struggled to their feet as well, and they dashed to the room where Tony kept his suit while I glided above everyone. People were running around, yelling and grabbing guns while every monitor I spotted beeped wildly, and a siren blared into everyone's ears. S.H.I.E.L.D techs were panicking, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents were gearing up and running to their stations in a controlled frenzy.

"According to my blueprints of this metal death trap, engine number three is down," I shouted over the loud sounds of distress. "And it's on fire too. Shit. Tony, we need to deal with that!"

"On it! Head to engine three, I'll meet you there!"

Steve and I nodded, hurrying over to engine three as Tony git his suit and geared up. But I stopped and listened, panicked, when a loud roar rand throughout the ship. I looked at Steve, eyes wide. The Hulk had been unleashed, which meant things got exponentially worse. Steve and I pushed on to the damaged engine and walked out to what used to be a closed off area of the ship, but it was been blown wide open. Workers had themselves strapped to the ship so the wind didn't blow them away. Steve and I weaved our way through them, avoiding live wires that were sparking above our heads. In the distance, we saw the Iron Man suit.

"Sable. I need you to help me clear this debris while I scan the damage and assess what we need to do. I'm assuming you're strong enough for that?"

"You assume correctly. I can bench twenty tonnes."

Both men chuckled, amused and surprised. I flew over to Tony and passed him, pulling out loose metal debris as I went and chucked them down towards the green below, secretly hoping there weren't any small villages or buildings. I could see the ocean ahead, but it'd take a bit before they reached it. I floated towards another part of the blown up engine and put my hands before me, shooting beams of energy at the hunks of metal to dislodge them. I pressed on until all the metal had been cleared and I was standing in front of the dead rotors. I cursed and spoke into the comms.

"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't budge without a jump," I said, and Tony came up behind me, analyzing the human technology with his own. "How much does this weigh?"

"About thirty tonnes," Tony replied. "Guess we'll have to team up on this one."

"When that thing gets up to speed, you'll be shredded!" I heard Steve say in the comms.

"Then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that should-"

"Speak English!" Steve shouted, which made me chuckle.

"See that red lever? It'll slow down the rotors long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, and wait for my signal."

I pointed my index finger at the remaining debris in the rotors and cut it with an energy beam, then I jumped off from where I stood and landed on the piece, dislodging it. I looked down at the falling pieces of metal, estimating their trajectory. I blew them up further to make smaller pieces and reduce impact. Then I flew back up to Tony. Suddenly, there was a general powering down sound which made Tony and I look at each other.

"The other engines have powered off," he stated.

"Well, shit..."


	7. Chapter 7

"Stark! Sable! We're losing altitude and fast!"

"I know, Spangles!"

Tony immediately rushed to the rotor and began pushing, but I got to thinking. Until at least two other engines were back online, the Helicarrier was still going down. I glanced over at Steve. He was under attack by people dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms, so I could only assume that Agent Barton was behind this. Steve and Tony looked like they could handle themselves, but me... what could I do?

"Guy, I'm heading under!"

"Under!?" I heard Tony say in my head. "This thing is too heavy for you!"

"I can slow down its descent long enough for the guys inside to reboot the system,"I said, soaring away from both men.

I let myself fall down a few hundred feet and looked up at the underbelly of the ship. I gathered up all the energy I could muster and propelled myself upwards, hands outstretched to catch the Helicarrier. My hands collided with a loud bang and with the momentum that I'd gathered, the Helicarrier rose up a few dozen meters, but once that was gone, the ship returned on its descending course and I could finally feel the immense strain in my arms and torso.

"Sable, what the hell are you doing!?" I heard Fury say.

"You wanna know more about me, Fury - well, I can bench twenty tonnes," I said, voice straining. "I'm gonna keep this boat in the air as long as I can. Just get those damn engines online!"

I heard an annoyed grunt and the line cut off, bringing me back to the dire situation that I was in. I kept trying to push up the Helicarrier for what I estimated to be at least ten minutes, but by then my strength was beginning to wane. But I kept searching for any molecule of Nova Force in my body and from my helmet to keep pushing it up, trying my best to ignore the fact that if I let go, the boat was going to come crashing down on me. But then it suddenly got a little easier to hold it up, and she knew that Tony had succeeded in jumpstarting the rotor. I released the helicarrier and let myself fall a few hundred feet before soaring to the opposite side of the ship. I went beneath engine one and held it up, stabilizing the ship in its descent.

"Tony! Reboot engine one!"

"On it!"

By the time Tony had restarted engine one, Fury and his crew had reestablished the connection to their engines and the Helicarrier was flying normally again. With a loud sigh I released the Helicarrier for the final time and stretched my limbs, listening to the joints crack in numerous places. My body was still numb, and I had a strong feeling that I'd go through a small bit of hell once I took off this helmet. I hadn't used this much power... ever. Tony, Steve and I gathered back at engine three. My legs were so tired, they could barely hold me up.

"Agent Coulson is down," three of them heard Fury say.

The three of us looked at each other. He was Fury's right hand man. Don't tell me he was...

"A medical team is on it's way... They're here." There was a sigh. "They called it."

Tony, Steve and I hung our heads. Neither of us knew him much, Tony more than Steve and I, but it still hit hard. I looked up at the boys.

"Go to Fury. I need to find a bathroom."

"You're thinking of going to the bathroom at a time like this?" Steve asked, almost insulted.

"You weren't there when she told us. Sable uses too much power, it's like she's going through chemo," Tony stated. He placed a metal hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Spangles."

Tony and Steve left the area and I calmly wandered the halls of the Helicarrier. There were Agents everywhere already repairing the damage and assessing the condition of others laying on the ground, inert. I was lucky the helmet was still on my head, or I'd be flat to the ground as well. Looking around, I sighed. She'd entered a new kind of war, a war she'd never intend to lose. Not with Peter and May living on this planet, not after Coulson fell, not after Loki endangered her new home.

I found a bathroom not long after, and I filled a glass with water and downed it before removing my helmet. I didn't even have time to gently put it down. Waves of heat coursed through my blood, a cold sweat began to glisten on the gaunt features I could now see without my helmet. My skin was sallow, my eyes sunken, everything sagged. It was as if my muscles shut down all of a sudden, and I crashed to the ground, hitting my head on the way down. I crawled to the corner of the room, and with each movement my stomach tightened and ached all the more. I kept swallowing, and my throat kept clenching, but no matter what I couldn't stop the warm feeling rising through my chest. Then I could taste it at the back of my mouth. Then I buckled over the toilet, an acidic liquid spilled from my mouth. I clung to the toilet as if it were a life raft, my stomach a set of bagpipes being vigorously squeezed. It came back up again and again for what seemed like an eternity, until with a heaving lurch of my stomach, one last mouthful of bile dribbled from my quivering lips into the waiting pool of rancid vomit. I flushed away the vomit, and let myself fall backwards, back landing on the floor with a thump. I shivered violently. Now that I stopped lurching, I just felt bruised inside and hilariously weak.

"We're dead in the air up here," I heard Fury say from my helmet. I groaned, neither in the mood or condition for a lecture. "Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Think I had that coming.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." I mustered enough energy to roll my eyes. "I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark and Sable knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

"I'm going to find, Ilaria."

After Tony spoke and presumably left, I let myself fall to my side and turned off the communications to my helmet. I wasn't going to listen to any more this. I already knew what this was. It made me angry. Not the plan, but the fact that Fury was using Coulson for this. I'm sure the man deserved better than to be used as a an object of manipulation.

It didn't take long for Tony to find me. The door opened all of a sudden, and the man just looked down at the near-corpse on the ground. I tiredly looked up at him and he sighed.

"Didn't think it'd be this bad."

"Yeah, well..." I began, voice hoarse. "You don't know the Nova Force. Powerful... but brutal."

"What do you need?"

"Sleep. And a shit ton of it."

"Let's get your ass up, then."

I tried to muster a chuckle, but I just ended up coughing, twisting my insides and causing more pain. Tony told me that I was a complete mess, and I tried to hit him, but he just grabbed my arm and pulled me up and dragged me to the infirmary. Natasha was there, pacing outside a door. Inside I noticed Agent Barton writhing on a table, presumably going through some sort of therapy to get Loki's out of his head. When Natasha saw me, her eyes grew wide.

"The hell happened!?"

"Held up the Helicarrier - used too much power, " Tony clarified. "Hey, can I get a nurse here!"

"Wait, so you use too much power-"

"The second I take off the helmet... My body shuts down."

"Does this happen to all the Nova?"

I shook my head.

"Only to Nova who have more power than their body can withstand. It affects your body's immune system and cellular structure," I added seeing Natasha's face. "How's Barton?"

"On his way back to us. He'll be fine."

I nodded and smiled a little. At least something good came out of this. A nurse then came over and helped Tony set me onto the small bed that was in the room. Natasha remained outside to watch over Barton, but Tony came in and stood in the corner of the room, supervising the nurse's work. I looked at him.

"You can leave, you know. I know what's wrong and what I need - it's happened before."

"You sure?"

"I'm good, Metal Man."

"All right, Sailor Moon."

Tony left as well, saying a few words to Natasha who was still outside Barton's room. The nurse gave me a once over before plugging me to a saline drip and a mix of liquefied nutrients. She placed a jug of water and a glass on my bedside, as well as a bucket. She gave me few instructions and then left, returning a while later with a few of my personal belongings. I pulled out my phone from the small pile of things and found it more or less intact, with a large crack dead center. I'd have to buy a new one, but it still worked for now. I decided to make a phone call.

"Hello?" a voice said on the other side.

"Hey, Pete. It's Ilaria."

"Ilaria! Are you coming back today as planned?"

"I can't Pete. Something came up," I said, and I think my heart broke a little.

"Aww, come on! I wanted some madeleines today after school!"

"Come on, Pete, don't you miss me at all and not just the pastries?"

I heard him scoff, and I smiled a little.

"I'm going to high school soon, I can't be missing you! That's not what cool kids do!"

"Guess I'll stay here as long as I can then..."

"No! Come home! Please, I miss you, sis!" Peter pleaded rapidly.

"I miss you too, kiddo. Don't worry, I'll come home as soon as I can, and I'll bring you a whole basket of pastries that'll make Aunt May go mad."

"Yes! You're the best!" The was a moment of silence. "I gotta go now, Aunt May is bringing me to school."

"All right. Don't get into trouble."

"I won't. Love you, sis!"

"I love you too, Peter."


	8. Chapter 8

Thor and Bruce were nowhere to be found. From the security footage that I was going through, Loki had managed to trap Thor into the Hulk's glass cage and drop it, which made my heart sink a little. But there was a little satisfaction in the fact that Coulson's final act was to shoot Loki with some sort of fire gun. And then there was Bruce. I got a recap from Natasha in person. I'd seen Bruce keep his cool even with Loki's scepter in play, so the fact that the Hulk came out after the explosion surprised me. He too was in the wind after he jumped onto a fighter jet and dismantled it. It blew up in his face and he went flying, landing God knows where. I was worried. Was he okay?

I couldn't do much from the infirmary, honestly. I'd slept for who knows how long, and there was just a lingering dizziness remaining. Still, the nurse kept a watchful eye on me and if I so much as turned my head, she was at my bedside checking up on me and telling me not to leave. If I was being honest with myself, I'd say I was a little scared of her. But I took a chance and stood up while she was gone to check up on the many other patients that had entered the infirmary after the attack, and I slipped out without much trouble. I wandered the destroyed halls a bit, staring at the hanging pieces of metal from the ship, now looking not much better than scrap at a junkyard.

Eventually I found Tony. He was walking somewhere, somewhat hurried, but he seemed more irritated than anything else. He began to protest when he saw me out of the infirmary, but he didn't argue much when I told him that I felt fine, which was more or less true. Apparently he was going to the lockdown room, where the large glass cage presence was very much gone. I tried to avoid looking at the large, red splash of Coulson's blood on the wall, but Tony stood right beside it, and I on his other side, with the spatter directly in my field of vision.

Neither of us spoke. Tony was obviously not a touchy-feely kind of guy, and I didn't know what to say to him. I knew that they knew each other, but I didn't know the extent of their relationship. Regardless, it seemed to hit him hard, and all I could do was stand beside him in case he needed something or someone. And then Steve walked in, which almost made me want to drag Tony out of there, like a mother protecting her son, because Steve arguing with Tony was not something either of us needed. To my surprise, Steve just... spoke to him.

"Was he married?" he asked, going to stand beside me.

"No. But there was a, uh... cellist, I think," Tony replied.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot," Tony scoffed, looking pointedly at Steve.

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job," Steve argued.

"He was out of his league," Tony said sharply, staring at the blood stain. "He knew Loki was out of his league. He could have waited, he could have-"

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right. How did that work for him?"

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We're not soldiers, Steve," I said, holding up a hand to Tony. I didn't want him to argue any further. "We were soldiers once, now we're just people brought together with other people because of Nick Fury's stupid ego, and I am not marching to the beat of his drum."

"Neither am I," Steve said. "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we need to put that behind us and get this done. Now, Loki needs a power source. If we can put together-"

"He made it personal," Tony interrupted, staring at the same blood stain.

"That's not the point."

"That is the point," I said, falling onto Tony's wavelength. "That's Loki's point. He hit us right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve answered, slowly catching on.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but- he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Tony continued. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"That's just previews, this is- this is opening night," I said, my mind reeling. "And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. Trust me, I know. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered - Son of-a-bitch."

"The tower."

"Gear up, guys. I'm getting Natasha and Barton."

The boys nodded and I bolted. I ran through the crews of repairmen and scrap metal to return to the infirmary that I ran from. Upon entering the nurse was on my case, complaining about my absence, but I ignored her and made my way to Barton's room. He and Natasha were still there, talking in hushed voices. They immediately stopped and looked at me when I flew into their field of vision, stopping in the doorway, panting.

"Time to go."

"Where?" Natasha asked.

"I'll tell you on the way," I said. "Can you fly one of those jets?"

"I can," Barton replied.

"You got a suit?" he nodded. "Then suit up. Hangar in ten."

I dashed off again, passing by my own room to grab my suit cartridge and collapsed helmet. I strapped the cartridge to my wrist as I jogged, and the coloured alloys flowed across my body until it stopped at the tips of my toes and the nape of my neck. The red, blue and gold nearly glowed in the harsh halogen lighting of the helicarrier, but optimal colouring soon fell on my eyes when my helmet was pulled over my head. Tony and Steve were already waiting for me by the time I got there, and moments later Clint and Natasha walked in ready to kick some ass. We all walked into the hanger and then onto one of the available quinjets. A man inside stood, thinking he looked imposing.

"You're not authorized to be here," he said.

"Son, just don't," Steve argued, putting up a hand. "The Nova is going to count to five, and there isn't much I can do to stop her from removing you from this ship by any means necessary."

The man looked from me to Steve at least twice before he nodded stiffly and walked out of the quinjet, leaving all the necessary equipment to fly it behind.

"Nicely done, Captain," I chuckled, seating myself behind the pilot's seat.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I swear to God, Steve, it'll be you I'm gonna be forcibly removing from this vessel!"

Everyone smirked a little as Clint started up the engines and took off. Tony, Steve and I briefed Natasha and Clint as we flew towards the new Stark Tower. Mid-flight, Tony and I jumped off the back of the quinjet to fly alongside it. As soon as the tower came in sight, I could see the device on the roof, as well as a man fiddling around with it. Dr. Selvig was inputting some numbers as Tony and I came up behind him. the A.I. in Tony's suit, J.A.R.V.I.S., was telling him that shutting it down was impossible for now, since he was using the self-sustaining Arc Reactor for power.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig!" Tony called.

"It's too late! She can't stop now. She wants to show us something - a new universe!"

If Tony's suit wasn't on I'd have seen him roll his eyes before shooting at the machine. It took only a fraction of a second for the beam to reach the machine, but a barrier went up the second it got too close, and it sent Selvig, Tony and I flying backwards. Tony and I stabilised ourselves and I got in closer to read the energy levels off the barrier.

"It's pure energy! You can't breach it," I said. "If I try with the Nova force it might work, but I'd probably kill myself doing it."

"Yeah, not an option. Plan B," Tony said, nodding over to someone below. It was Loki, and man did I want to wipe that smirk off his face. "Put your game face on, kid."

I sighed loudly, irritated, and dropped down to the platform below. Tony did the same, and as he walked forwards a metal contraption rose out of the ground and removed his armour for him. I wasn't paying attention much, deciding it was a better idea to keep my eyes fixed on Loki as we walked at the same pace, heading to the same destination. Tony and I came up on a balcony, above a bar, to which Tony immediately went. I stood in front of it and crossed my arms.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said sarcastically.

"Uh, actually, I think Ilaria and I will be threatening you, instead. Sound about right?" Tony replied, looking over to me.

"Yeah, that's pretty accurate," I shrugged.

"You should have left the armour on for that. Ilaria got the right idea - still looks great on you, by the way."

"Shut up, Loki."

"Can't speak for Ilaria's skin-tight body suit-" I rolled my eyes at both men. "- but mine's seen some mileage. And you've got the glowstick of destiny."

I chuckled, and even Loki couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"Want a drink?" Tony asked, finally settling himself behind the bar.

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no - threatening," I corrected.

"You don't want a drink? You sure? I'm having one. Ilaria, you want one?"

"Not much of a drinker, thanks."

"Suit yourself," Tony said with a small shrug.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that," Loki said, cutting across Tony and I's banter. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves," I said, looking at Tony pouring himself some scotch. "It's sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"You're not even from Earth."

"I've got things that I like here - I'd like to keep them intact."

"Yes, that little... family, you have. And that bakery you run. I'm sorry about Pascal, Ilaria. He seemed like a nice man."

"If you think talking about them is going to change anything, you're wrong," I said, desperately trying to hide the anger rising inside me. "Remember; we're threatening you. Not the other way around."

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the Demi-God..." Loki turned away and Tony slips a pair of bracelets onto his wrists. He and I nodded at each other. "A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, a legitimate alien that looks like a Power Ranger, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"Power Ranger?" I whispered to myself, not sure whether to be amused or insulted.

Loki turned back around with a smirk on his face.

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan," Tony admitted, walking up beside me. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army," Loki said, unimpressed.

"We have a Hulk."

"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

"Yeah - you're missing the point," I said, wandering over to Loki. I stood imposingly before him, and he did the same. "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. 'Cause if we can't protect the earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it. It's all in the name."

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you, my dear?"

Loki pointed his scepter at my chest and my eyes went wide. This was how he took control of Selvig and Clint, and I had no idea if the Nova Force could repel this kind of power. Luckily, Tony stood between Loki and I, and when the scepter touched Tony miniature arc reactor, nothing happened, much to the god's confusion.

"This usually works."

"Well, performance issues and such..." Tony mumbled.

Loki grabbed Tony by the throat and tossed him aside like a ragdoll, fuming with anger.

"Hey! Have you no respect for celebrities?" I shouted, running over to Loki, hand glowing bright yellow.

I punched him straight in the jaw and he too went flying, giving Tony enough time to call for J.A.R.V.I.S. and his new, less beaten-up suit. Loki stood up and dusted himself off, then rounded towards me with his scepter pointed at my chest again. This time I was ready for him, and I smacked the scepter to the side to grab his arm, preventing him from swinging the weapon at me again. His other arm was free though, and from his coat he pulled out a small dagger that he swiped at me. I rapidly floated backwards, avoiding the slice by barely an inch, and blew an energy beam at him which he deflected his his scepter. I shaped some energy into bright yellow daggers and threw them at him in quick succession, but Loki was as skilled a fighter as I was and managed to deflect them all with another one of his own knives. Then, all of a sudden, Loki went down with a loud yell, and I looked up at Tony who finally had his new suit on.

"Took you long enough," I sighed, rolling my shoulders so they cracked. "I forgot he could fight."

"You're probably just rusty. He fights like an old lady."

I rolled my eyes with a smile and walked over to Loki, but just as I started walking a loud boom sounded outside. Tony and I ran to the window and looked up. A large beam of bright blue energy shot up at the sky from the roof of Stark Tower. It seemed to pile up into some sort of puddle in the sky, but then it opened up to darkness and then they came, like a biblical swarm of locusts to wipe the Earth... the Chitauri.


	9. Chapter 9

I didn't miss those things a single bit. They were taller than the average man, stronger. They were a cross between reptiles and advanced technology which made them the single most fearsome opponents in the universe other than the Kree. Their trademark? Complete annihilation - no survivors. They grew and spread like a cancer, and it took everything the defenders had to defeat them. They came down from the portal in swarms, driving single or multiple-place hover cruisers, with their purple energy weapons glowing even in the harsh sunlight of this New York afternoon. I clenched my jaw and threw on my helmet again, its technology reacquainting itself with Chitauri biology and their tech. I grew nervous. The big ones weren't here yet - this was only the first wave.

"Tony," I said in a firm voice. "We need to get that closed within the next ten minutes, or it'll get worse."

"Worse?" Tony's metallic voice sounded from his suit. "How worse?"

"These are just drones - the first wave. Then the Leviathan come."

"Leviathan!?"

"Living warships."

Tony made a sort of squeaking noise that would have been humorous if we weren't in this situation, but now it just sounded like fear. I looked over at Tony for a moment.

"Don't get killed."

"Nice words of encouragement, kid."

"Tony..." I said seriously. "I mean it."

Tony nodded stiffly and then we kicked off the ground, flying up towards the oncoming Chitauri. The second they saw us coming, they let out an audible screech to each other and began firing at us. I dodged their first shot as I turned on the Universal Translator of my helmet, allowing me to understand what their screeches were. Unfortunately, they only seemed to be barking orders at each other, or insulting the 'Metal One' and the Nova. Tony and I held out our arms and began shooting everything we were capable of hitting. Dozens of cruisers and Chitauri blew up and went down once hit by one of my energy beams or Tony's stabilizers. But we couldn't hit them all, and even when Tony sent a flurry of heat-seeking bombs towards them, a few Chitauri managed to get past and rushed down to the city below to commence their destruction. They began shooting their weapons at cars, entire streets and skyscrapers, causing the most panic and destruction as possible. I could hear the screams from where I was, high up the the greying sky, and I could only pray that we could contain this to the next few blocks - Peter needed to stay safe.

"We're near the ground," I heard Natasha say. "Heading North-East."

"What, did you stop for Drive-Thru?" Tony replied. "Swing that park - Ilaria and I will lay them out for you."

Tony and I nodded to each other and got the Chitauri's attention. Then we flew off towards the park with the Chitauri on our tails. We weaved through the skyscrapers, banking hard lefts and hard rights so that a good part of the Chitauri crashed, unable to make the turns. Then the quinjet appeared out of nowhere and began shooting the aliens that were following Tony and I, destroying quite a few of them. An alert came to the corner of my visor: more Chitauri were on their way, which meant that this was the second wave and a fifty-fifty shot at seeing the Leviathan.

"Tony - incoming!"

"Let's keep 'em busy."

All of a sudden, I heard something beeping and turned to look in the direction my helmet was indicating. The quinjet was falling fast. I rushed over and quickly pulled out the debris from the jet so that Natasha, Clint and Steve could at least land without killing themselves. I wanted to stay and help them, but that's when I heard a loud roar from above. It sent chills down my spine, and I knew that serious trouble was upon us now. I looked up at the portal and a giant Leviathan slowly flew out of the dark depths of space, gracing the earth with its horrible presence. They were giant flying beasts that bore incredible resemblance to those ancient dinosaur whales* that Peter had shown me in his books. It was armoured, the spines on its back sharp and pointed, and with teeth that was individually twice as big as me.

"Are those..."

It swooped down to the road below, and like a regular military plane, hundreds of foot soldiers burst out from its sides. They landed on the buildings on either side of the Leviathan and they hooked themselves with their claws, slowly sliding down to the ground below. The invasion had finally begun.

"Yeah... Leviathans," I sighed. "Look, guys, I've fought these before, so listen: aim for the head. They're all basically cyborgs, so kill the main frame."

"Same for those... big things?" Steve asked.

"Not for the Leviathan. Don't even try to penetrate their armour." I blasted a few Chitauri and continued. "What you can't see is the Mother Ship. It won't come into battle - it's just hiding up there, controlling everything like a hive-mind. We need to destroy it. Destroy it, and everything dies."

Just then, I saw Thor rush down to the ground, lightning crackling all around him. I smiled. One more added to the party. All that was left was Bruce who, now that I thought about it, could be really useful in killing these Leviathan right now. I had a lot of firepower, but I'm sure the Hulk had even more. Tony and I rounded a corner, and we came face to face with one of the Leviathan. Tony shot a flurry of small missiles at it, but it didn't do more than anger it.

"Stark, Ilaria," I heard Steve say. "Banner's here."

"Then tell him to suit up," Tony said. "We're bringing the party to you."

Tony and I shot another flurry of attacks at the Leviathan to get its attention, then we flew off. The beast followed us, and when we rounded the corner to where the rest of the Avengers were, the Leviathan banked as well, destroying the buildings it touched as is turned.

"I don't see how that's a party," I heard Natasha say.

Tony and I flew over Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Steve and Thor just as Banner began to grow and turn green. He grew exponentially and then turned to face the Leviathan, and punched it straight it in the face. It smashed to the ground and bits of its armour plating began to fall off, which allowed Tony and I to blast the Leviathan to smithereens. Its insides splattered everywhere and armour hit the ground hard, and the nearby Chitauri shouted more profanities. Tony and I gathered with the others and stared around us, assessing the situation. There seemed to be more and more Chitauri piling in by the minute.

"Guys?" Natasha called, worried.

"Call it, soldiers," Tony said, nodding to Steve and I.

I looked at Steve.

"Containment?"

"Containment," he agreed. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays."

"Tony and I'll take the perimeter. Anything gets out more than three blocks, we turn it back or we turn it to ash," I stated. "Thor, bottleneck that portal. You've got the biggest range and the lightning, so light them up."

"Natasha and I will stay down here, keep the fighting on the ground," Steve added. "And Hulk? Smash."

Hulk grins, then leaps off, taking out dozens of warriors that are on the sides of the buildings - grabbing them, smashing them, throwing them. Hulk leapt across the air and slapped a Chitauri cruiser out of the air. Thor then took to the sky and landed on top of the Chrysler Building, sending up numerous bolts of lightning that destroyed many Chitauri drones and a few Leviathan. Clint ran off and jumped, catching my arm as I sped upwards with Tony. I dropped him on the desired building and he immediately began firing at any alien he could reach. Tony and I gathered up stragglers for each other to shoot off, as well as for Clint to take out as well.

I looked to my right to see Natasha riding one of the Chitauri cruisers, and two other cruisers on her tail which are firing at her. She swerves to avoid them. I blasted them away with bursts of golden energy, and then Tony fired at the rest of the fleet behind them. Tony and I took a turn, coming up on an overpass, where we knocked Chitauri over and landed by Steve, who was fighting and kicking Chitauri. Steve lifted his shield. Tony reflected a repulsor blast off the shield, taking out the surrounding warriors while I finished off the ones Steve was trying to handle. We then flew up the side of a building, hitting more warriors. At the top of the building, Clint fired into the head of a Chitauri. Two blasts were fired at him, but he ducked and returned a shot by firing an arrow. The arrow hit the pilot of a craft which fell and got hit by a Leviathan. On the creature was the Hulk who was fighting off warriors. Thor then landed on the same creature and took on warriors with Hulk. When Hulk broke a piece of the creature's armor off, Thor used Mjolnir to summon lightning and drove the metal into its head. Tony and I swerved out of the way as the creature came crashing down, landing in Grand Central Station.

Tony continued on and followed a group of Chitauri, shooting them down as he went. I turned back, having spotted Natasha on her cruiser with Loki on her tail. She called for Clint's help and he shot an arrow at Loki which he caught, but the arrow blew up, sending Loki tumbling off his cruiser. I grabbed him in midair, dragging him back to Stark Tower. I dropped him on the same floor I'd left him, and landed on the roof next to the machine that was keeping the portal open. Moments later, Hulk bashed through the windows of the floor I'd left Loki on, and I couldn't predict good things for the God of Mischief. I chuckled and approached the device holding the Tesseract.

"The scepter," a voice groaned. It was Selvig - he was awake now, and no longer under Loki's control. "Loki's scepter, the energy- the Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself."

"It's not your fault," I tried to reassure him. "You didn't know what you were doing."

"Well, actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."

"Loki's scepter..."

"It may be able to close the portal."

I ran to the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the floor below. Sure enough, Loki's scepter was sitting there unprotected. I floated down and picked it up, looking inside the penthouse. Loki was lying on his back, beaten and bruised, but he managed to turn his head towards me. I walked over to him.

"I'm going to close the portal," I told him in a soft voice. "We told you that you couldn't win this one."

"Do I get points for trying?" he muttered, voice straining.

I managed to chuckle a little and then turned away, floating back to Selvig who was putting his equipment in order for the shut down. A pained look crossed my face thinking of Loki. I couldn't think of what I'd do if I were him, or what drove him to do this. I kind of felt bad for him, going to all this trouble and then it all turning out to be for nothing.

"Right at the crown!" Selvig said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I began pushing the scepter's blade through the barrier. It looked like a tough barrier to crack, but with the strength that I had it wasn't as bad as it looked. When the tip of the scepter was almost at the crown, I called out to the rest of the team through my helmet.

"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" I heard Steve say.

"No, wait!" Tony argued.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, and it'll blow up in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

"What!?" I exclaimed. "Tony, that's a one way trip! Your suit wasn't made for this! I can-"

"There's no time for a switcheroo, there, Sailor Moon," Tony said. "This thing'll blow before I get to you. Besides, you said we had to destroy this Mother Ship, right? Just make sure to close that portal."

I nodded, and that was my only answer even though I knew that he couldn't hear me. I looked up at the sky as I heard Tony and the nuke rush by, and I can feel my eyes well-up with tears, but I blink them away and take a deep breath, steadying myself and the scepter. I watched as Tony flew upwards and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the portal, and I knew that I should have closed it then and there, but I stalled. All of a sudden I saw the Leviathan go limp and slowly crash to the ground, lifeless. A little relief washed over me, but then I looked back at the portal. I couldn't see Tony flying back or even falling from the portal. However, I could see the light that was created from the nuclear explosion, and to avoid the earth getting contaminated, I shoved the scepter further into the device and pressed it to the crown. The blue light jetting out of the Tesseract suddenly died down and stopped, and the beam that was reaching to the portal began to rapidly retract. I watched, panicked as the portal began to close, the dark clouds slowly getting smaller and smaller until it was completely gone.

Relief washed over me when out of the last cloud came Tony. But he wasn't flying - he was free falling. I immediately dropped the scepter and kicked off the roof, soaring with incredible speed towards the falling man. I slammed into him in midair, and wasn't able to land properly, so we both crashed onto the ground. However, my suit absorbed most of the impact, and I came out of this with a few scrapes and a potentially bruised side. I rolled over and dropped Tony beside me. Steve, Thor and Hulk jogged over and removed his mask to make sure he was still breathing. When Hulk saw that he wasn't, he yelled at him and Tony jolted awake.

"What the hell!?" Tony called. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

"Nah, you just died for a minute there," I laughed.

"Oh, good. That's good."

"We also won," Steve added, gently clapping his hand on my shoulder.

"All right. Yay!" Tony said sarcastically. "Good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. You ever tried Shawarma?"

"Yes, it's delicious," I admitted, lying down as well.

"Well I haven't, and I wanna try it."

"We aren't finished yet," Thor said, although he was smiling.

Steve helped me up and Thor pulled up Tony, and then the five of us made our way back to Stark Tower where Loki was still lying immobile. However, he sat up once the entire Avengers team was standing in front of him, pointing all of our weapons at him. He rose his hands up in surrender, but the mischievous look on his face never left.

"If its all the same to you," he said, looking at Tony and I, "I'll have that drink now."

* * *

*I'm referring to a Mosasaurus.


	10. Chapter 10

The destruction of central New York was immense. Complete streets were destroyed, over a dozen buildings had crumbled and the dust was still settling from the crash of all the inert Chitauri and Leviathan. But the Avengers left that all behind for S.H.I.E.L.D to deal with. Loki was also taken in by them, and this time there was no way he was going to be able to come out of his cell. This gave everyone time to go back to either Tony's tower or the Helicarrier to change into civilian clothes. As for me, I took a pass on heading back to the tower and the Helicarrier, and flew over to Queens in a near panic. Relief washed over me the closer I got to my destination - the Chitauri hadn't made it this far.

Luckily, May and Peter weren't home, most likely at work and at school, respectively. I glided into the window of my room which I had to force open, then dashed over to the alarm to punch in the code before the police were alerted. I pressed my wrist, making my suit flow back into the cartridge, and then collapsed my helmet after I took it off. I don't think a shower ever felt this good, but washing off the caked dust, dirt and Chitauri blood off my body felt like I'd just spent thousands of dollars at the spa.

We all met up at a footbridge near all the devastation to see Thor off, as he took Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard to be locked up. I don't think I'd ever say this out loud, but since the last time I'd seen him, Thor had grown quite a bit. Not in height of course, that man was and always had been a giant, but he was more mature than before, and more importantly, less annoying. I was sort of sad to see him go, but it was all for the best, and it wasn't like this would be the last time he'd visit us.

And then we parted ways. Clint, Natasha and I made our way to a large black SUV where we were to be taken back to S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony and Bruce headed into one of the billionaire's fancy cars, and Steve left on his motorcycle. I had to admit I was jealous of that one. Natasha, Clint and I took the time to get to know each other while we drove back to Headquarters, which made this the most normal part of the past week. Clint and Natasha had an amazing relationship, and if everyone could get along like that, then maybe the Avengers would get back together outside of work hours. But the happiness was short-lived.

"Miss Sable," Fury called, the second I stepped onto the Helicarrier.

I rolled my eyes at Clint and Natasha, making them snicker, then turned to Fury and followed him to an office.

"Director Fury," I acknowledged.

"I promised you the permanent return of your abilities and the re-connection to the Xandarian Worldmind for helping us with this... endeavor."

"Are you planning on returning on your promise?"

"No. But she might."

Fury clicked on a large screen, the white hair of Nova Prime jumped out at me. I immediately straightened out, as if on command, and saluted to the woman before me.

"At ease, Centurion," she said.

"Yes, Ma'am," I said, putting my hands behind my back.

"I would like to congratulate you on your victory on Earth."

"I... wouldn't exactly call it a victory, Ma'am. Too many victims. Well, you know the Chitauri."

"Chitauri? How many?" Nova Prime asked. "They didn't come up on our scanners."

"You have Loki, son of Odin to thank for that." Nova Prime sighed and leaned back in her chair, annoyed. "There were a dozen Leviathan that made it to Earth, so I'd say thousands of them," I stated. "One of our own went up there and saw if there were more, but I haven't had the heart to ask."

"Haven't the heart to ask? Have you forgotten your orders, Centurion?"

"No, I haven't. Considering that I no longer take orders from you, Nova Prime."

Nova Prime rose and eyebrow and leaned forward. Suddenly, she looked much more intimidating than Nick Fury, to me.

"Excuse me?"

"I stopped taking orders from you the second you refused to hear me out, set a death warrant to my name and banished me to Earth." I chuckled humourlessly. "You know, Xandar and Earth have something in common. They both treat their soldiers badly."

"How dare you-"

"Speak to you this way? Oh, shit, would you look at that I interrupted you too!" I said sarcastically. "Look. I take orders from no one, now. You promised Director Fury that I'd permanently regain connection to the Xandarian Worldmind, regardless of whether I continued to help S.H.I.E.L.D. after this endeavour. And as I have never known you to go against your word, I expect this to remain true."

"It will."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."

"Home is Xandar, if I'm not mistaken," Nova Prime said.

"Have you never heard of, 'Home is where the heart is'?" I said with a smile, then turned to Fury. "Cut her off. Call if you ever need me."

Fury nodded and cut the connection to Xandar.

"I pray, for your sake, that this kind of thing doesn't happen again," I said before exiting.

"Nova Prime won't be contacted unless asked or obligated, don't worry. I didn't want to talk to her either. She's the one who called."

"Thanks."

I casually made my way through the mostly repaired halls of the Helicarrier and headed towards the hangar. One of the uniformed men brought me down in some remote area of New Jersey, and someone on the ground was there to greet me with two cars. He tossed me a small plastic rectangle and got into one of the two cars, driving off with someone in the passenger seat, most likely the driver of the second car.

"Wait - do I get to keep this?" I looked at the car. "This shit is too fancy, man. There isn't even a key..."

I sighed and shrugged stepping to the car. I checked the keys to unlock the car doors, but there were no buttons. I tried the door, and the car beeped, startling me - then the door opened on its own. I stared at it, confused, then tentatively lowered myself inside the car, watching almost nervously as the door closed itself.

"Time to put those driving classes to good use, I guess."

I searched for ignition which was apparently a button, and pressed it, bringing the car to life... Almost quite literally. The display turned on and nearly rolled my eyes at the Stark Industries logo that was showing. But I nearly jumped out of my skin when the damn thing started talking.

"Welcome, Miss Sable."

"WHAT THE- Why is this car talking!?"

"The car is not talking, Miss Sable. I am - T.A.D.A.S.H.I.," the voice said, and finally I noticed some variant of an Asian accent. Considering the name, it was probably Japanese. "The Artificial Intelligence installed into this car by Mr. Tony Stark."

"Metal man," I cursed under my breath. "Um, can you tell me why, Mr. AI, man?"

"After the events of the Battle, Mr. Stark saw it fit to keep an eye on everyone, but he thought you would prefer this to being watched. Something about keeping an eye on Fury together."

I let out a short laugh.

"I can't have this, though. It's too much. This car is worth more than the bakery I run."

"He thought you would say that, which is why he also scheduled for my systems to be installed inside your bakery and home."

"He made it worse!? For Christ's sake Tony!" I shouted, buckling up. "Okay, T.A.D.A.S.H.I, get me outta here."

"Of course, Miss Sable."

A map of the surrounding area soon popped up on the display screen, and I drove off in the direction the AI instructed me to.

"Call Tony while you're at it too."

Moments later, Tony picked up.

"How's the new toy?"

"Stark, you idiot!" I shouted. "You know I can't take any of this!"

"I thought we had a rapport. I was kind to you, decided tell you I was spying on you." Tony said hurt, though he was probably smiling at the other end.

"Okay, fine, thanks for the car and Mr. AI man. But don't install anything in my home!"

"So, the bakery's fine?"

"I don't care, just not my home!"

"Why not? Don't the kid and his mom know about your alien-ness?"

"His aunt, and no! Peter's too young to remember, and May saw nothing!" I shouted, turning a corner. I think I may have smashed a garbage can, too. "I don't want them involved in any of this."

"Sure thing, Sailor Moon. I'll call off the installation in your house."

"Thank you. Now, no more gifts from you, all right. And you're paying for the parking tickets!"

"No promises."

He hung up. I shook my head, and continued driving. Soon I made it back to New York, which meant I had to be more mindful of my driving. Without much more incident than a few honking cars, I made it back to Queens in one piece, stopping by the bakery first. Ian and Lorraine were working quite well together, managing the bakery quite well without me. They handed me a few letters which I opened in the back office. Most of them were just spam, but a few of them had to do with Pascal. I was being left the restaurant, under the sole condition that his grandson be hired as help. That could only be good, as I'd met Jules and he seemed like a decent kid. Besides, we could always use the help, especially if I was going to be absent on occasion doing things for S.H.I.E.L.D.

I grabbed a box that Ian had prepared for Peter, which contained about every single kind of pastry we sold, and returned to the fancy car that I would most likely never get used to. I checked the time and smiled, driving off to Peter's school instead of home. Today was Peter's first day at Midtown School of Science and Technology. It was much further away from home, so the car was convenient in a way, otherwise Peter would have to take the bus. He'd probably want to - taking the bus was cool, apparently. I got out just as the bell rang, and I dropped the box of pastries on the roof of the car before leaning on it to watch the students file out. It didn't take long for me to spot Peter walking out of the school alongside someone else. I'd never met him, but I could only assume this was Ned, Peter's best friend.

"Ilaria!" he shouted happily upon seeing me. He continued talking, but it was muffled because his face was in my shirt. "You're back!"

"Hell yeah, I'm back," I laughed, ruffling his hair.

"Pete..." the boy I assumed to be Ned whispered to Peter. "Is that your sister?"

"Yeah, it's Ilaria."

"She's really pretty..."

"You know, she can hear you Ned."

Ned looked spooked for a second, and he stared at me, then eventually introduced himself properly which made me laugh. Then he ran off and jumped in his parents' car just as Peter saw what I was driving.

"Woah, where'd you get that!?"

"Uh... I picked up a second job. A rich guy - he gave it to me for practical purposes? Here, stuff your face with cream puffs."


	11. Chapter 11

**Queens, New York**

Fury called me in sooner than expected, but at least it didn't concern the world or its destruction. That's probably why I refused to take the mission. Add that to the fact that there was an inspector coming to visit the bakery - well let's just say that I had better things to think about than some jackass in Peru. It didn't help that it was parent-teacher day at Peter's school and May was doing a double shift. It was going to be one thing after another today, I suppose.

I woke up before the sun, which was blasphemy if you asked me, and I threw on whatever clothes I'd picked to seem manager-like after I got out of the shower. I stared at myself in the mirror until I was convinced I looked all right and then ran out the door, nearly forgetting the not-really-keys for the car I had inherited just a few days ago. It was obviously still strange getting greeted by a machine, but I ignored it and drove to the bakery while T.A.D.A.S.H.I. was making casual conversation about the weather and the time at which the inspector was to arrive at Café Madeleine. I parked the car on the street, expecting a parking ticket within the next few hours, and sauntered inside. The divine smells of pastries greeted me upon entry, as did the smiles of Ian and Lorraine, as well as the new hire and Pascal's son, Jules.

"Good morning, Ilaria," Jules greeted with the others.

"Jeez, it's like I'm the manager or something in here," I joked, then realised. "Oh right, I am."

I pulled a face and the employees laughed, telling me that all the documents I needed were in the back office. I gathered and sorted through them, seeing which ones I needed for the inspection more than others, and some that I could just throw away. Amongst these papers were also the documents concerning the Stark Security Systems that would be installed... today apparently. Did Tony pick this day? If he did, I'd have to go kill him. What was more suspicious than having Stark tech planted inside your tiny insignificant bakery?

"Ilaria?" Ian called from the doorway to the office. "There's someone in front who wants to speak with you."

"All right, I'll be right there."

I grabbed all the necessary folders and made my way back to the front where I was greeted by a man than looked vaguely familiar. If I recognised him, he was probably affiliated with Tony.

"Ilaria Sable?" the man said.

"That would be me. You here to install the stupid security system?"

"Not me personally, but the guys doing it are just outside. Happy Hogan."

"Happy?"

"Don't ask. Can I bring in the guys?"

"Yeah. Just letting you know that there's an inspector coming in today, so don't mind him."

Happy nodded and whistled loudly, which was followed by a dozen men and women with boxes. I went over to Ian, Jules and Lorraine to explain that there was a new security system being installed and they didn't question me much considering the previous one hadn't been changed since 1995. Happy supervised the installation while I helped out in the kitchen until the inspector came. He arrived about mid installation and upon entering he paused and stared around like a bomb had gone off in the place. It was a total exaggeration if you ask me. There were just two boxes on one wall and wires hanging around. Thankfully, this installation didn't need the removal of walls.

"Miss Sable, what is the meaning of this!?" the inspector said, scandalised.

"Oh, you must be the one inspecting the premises!" I said cheerfully, shaking the man's hand. "We're just updating the security systems. In fact, I'm having a new one installed. I got sort of... paranoid after the whole alien business in Manhattan. You know?"

"True, true. Did you have to book the installation for today though? I don't like being distracted."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. The company never gave me an installation date. They just told me it was going to be installed and that I should be expecting them within the week," I explained, mentally cursing both this man and Tony.

"Very well. May I ask whom you purchased this from and what grade of security this procures?" the inspector asked.

"Oh, I didn't buy it. It was a gift from the manufacturer."

"A gift?"

"Yeah. I'm a personal friend of Tony Stark so he gave me one of his top notch security systems when I mentioned that I wanted to upgrade my bakery."

"Tony Sta- I'm sorry are you trying to make a fool of me?"

"I'm really not. Look, let me give him a call."

I pulled out my phone and speed-dialed Tony, while the man looked at me both furious and curious. I put the call on speaker, and moments later a familiar voice sounded on the phone.

"How's the installation coming along, Sailor Moon?"

"Pretty good, Tin Can. Just proving a point."

"Which point would that be?"

"The inspector. He didn't believe you just gave me this security doo-hickey for free, or that I even know you," I chuckled, seeing the man's face. "I think we're good though."

"Yeah? Well, hit me up if ever."

"You gotcha." I hung up and stared at the inspector. "Satisfied?"

The man nodded rapidly, and the rest of the inspection went off without a hitch. He inspected the cooking and prepping areas to see if they were all up to code, pointed out a few things that should be improved before the next inspection in a few months, but he never wrote them on his notebook, probably by fear I'd sic Tony Stark on him. Nevertheless, my bakery got glowing reviews and a pretty new sticker on my window saying that I passed the most recent inspection. I stayed and helped Ian, Jules and Lorraine for another few hours and until the installation of the Stark security system was done and connected to my new phone (which apparently came with the car and also had T.A.D.A.S.H.I.).

* * *

 **Forest Hills, Queens, New York**

Midtown School of Science and Technology was pretty big for a High School, and looked more like a University if you asked me. There was marble everywhere with the school's crest hanging all over the place over peacock blue banners, but the students didn't seem stuffy. Probably because uniforms weren't required. Peter was lucky to have gotten a scholarship to this place, because just looking at it made me feel poor. It was also awkward walking into the school with all these kids staring at you. I was lucky to not automatically be labelled as a mother though, considering that some of the Seniors looked like they were my age. A bunch of giggling girls waled past me and I couldn't help but glance at them. I wonder what it wold have been like to go through High School and such. Guess I'll have to content myself with Nova Corps training.

Class B-128 wasn't hard to find, and I started to feel even more out of place than before when I walked inside amongst all the mothers and fathers who were twice my age or more. Instantly I was greeted with mostly unwelcoming stares, which caused me to nervously sit at the nearest desk, no matter how far back the classroom it was. There was coffee and snacks set by the entrance and it took me all my willpower to not go over there and drown my nerves with donuts, but thankfully Peter arrived after his classes, as did all the other Freshman, and he diffused my tension with a dorky smile.

The meeting well all right. The teachers each took turns discussing their curriculum and the expectations that they had of their students, there were a few complaints from parents about their kids' personal life and extracurricular activities which they apparently wouldn't have time for if there was so much work, as well as talk of the Academic Decathlon which I had no idea existed until now. Peter seemed interested in it, and when we left for home, we grabbed a pamphlet so that he could read more about it and register.

"That chem teacher is evil, but the stuff we learn is so cool!" Peter said on the way home.

"Yeah? What're you going to learn?"

"Thermodynamics, organic chemistry, nuclear chemistry - like everything!"

"You could probably teach me a thing or two, kid."

"Well, we can do my homework together and I can teach you about the laws of thermodynamics."

"Sounds good, Pete."

And he actually did teach me about the laws of thermodynamics once we got home, but only after I made dinner since all May could cook was pancakes. Tony was right when he said I could learn a lot and appreciate it all when he spoke of his Research and Development section of the tower. Maybe I'd take him up on the offer of coming for a visit. Maybe Bruce was still there too, and he'd help me learn faster. Tony was too techy for me at the moment. At least Bruce didn't deal much with Human technology. Still, I'd like to learn that too so that I can keep up with Tony at least a little.

Which is what I attempted to do about a month later.

* * *

 **Manhattan, New York**

Things at the bakery had been going smoothly without me considering that I'd hired someone else to help out. Trish sort of replaced Ian, as I made him supervisor for the times that I was away. Days like today where I found myself driving to Stark Tower to the sound of T.A.D.A.S.H.I.s directions. I parked the car in front of the building and made my way inside, admiring all the glass and and once again, marble. There was a woman at the main desk, looking pristine.

"Hey, Tony's here, right?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, you are?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me and my appearance.

"Ilaria Sable. Don't worry, we're friends - I'm not some rabid fan. So, is he here?"

"I'm sorry, I can't divulge that information."

"Right... So here," I said, picking out a small pile of parking tickets. "Give these to his secretary - he needs to pay these."

"Um, what?"

"R & D is the top two floors right?" I asked, looking over to spot the elevators. "Well, tell Tony I'm on my way up, yeah?"

"Wait, you can't do that!"

I ignored the woman and strutted towards the elevators. I pressed the button for the second-to-last floor and watched the front desk woman panic through the slowly closing doors. Once I'd reach the desired floor, the AI I knew as J.A.R.V.I.S greeted me and instructed me to follow the main corridor to reach the research and development part of the tower. I went past a few labs which seemed to be more suited to my taste in research, and eventually came up to a giant glass door with a post-it note on it reading, R & D Department. Inside I could see Tony pointing something to his arm. I tried the door but it was locked.

"Mind letting me in, J.A.R.V.I.S?"

"Of course."

The combination lock glowed green for a second and clicked, allowing me to enter the room. There were machines and robotics everywhere, as well as a number of cars alongside one wall. One of the robots had a literal Dunce cap on it, and it was sweeping dirt off the floors. I didn't venture in too far, deciding to listen to what Tony was saying before barging in.

"Sir, may I please request just a few hours to calibrate-"

"Nope. Forty-eight," Tony said, interrupting the AI. "Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete."

"As you wish, Sir. I've also prepared a security briefing for you to entirely ignore."

"Which I will. All right, let's do this," Tony said, but paused and stared at the sweeping dunce robot. "Dummy. Hey, Dummy. How did you get that cap on your head? You earned it. Hey, hey!" Tony stood and walked over to the machine. "What're you doing out of the corner? You know what you did." He pointed to where he once sat. "Blood on the mat - take care of it."

"Sir, need I remind you that you've been awake for 72 hours, and that Miss Sable has come to visit you."

Tony went over to a robot with a camera, stood on some sort of platform and did some dumb karate moves in front of it, then swerved over in my direction.

"Focus, madame. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suite," he said, and I couldn't help but chuckle. I sat down on a clear bit of table and crossed my arms, waiting for whatever nonsense Tony had planned. He stared back at the camera. "Start tight and then go wide. Stamp date and time." He turned back to me. "Mark 42. Autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialise sequence." Tony snapped his fingers and bits of his suit began to power up. "J.A.R.V.I.S., drop my needle."

All of a sudden some weird christmas song began playing and Tony started dancing, looking utterly pleased with himself. He then punched the air towards his suit, expecting something to happen. But nothing did until another three air punches when one of the 'gloves' from his suit came flying towards him and attached itself to his hand. I cocked an eyebrow in surprise when the rest of the arm pieces followed. He did the same for the other arm.

"All right, I think we got this. Send them all."

"You sure?" I asked, giving him a sceptical look.

"Oh yeah," Tony shrugged.

Just then, a few pieced of his suit came flying at him, and Tony rose his leg up to catch them. They spread out over the rest of his leg within a few seconds, but Tony had to duck when his other leg parts went straight for his head, and had to block some other pieces with his arm when they came for his face again. Both crashed into walls and lights, making sparks fly everywhere.

"Probably a little fast. Slow it down just a li-"

Tony cut himself off and ducked again as something else came flying at him. He caught the rest of his legs pieces and gave a low and pained groan when a piece attached itself to his groin. I couldn't help but laugh. This indeed was a great show. And then another piece slammed him in the back and sent him flying forwards, but he stopped himself from face-planting with his propulsors.

"Cool it, will ya, J.A.R.V.I.S?"

Tony landed back in his original spot and the next piece to come towards him paused, as if taunting him.

"Come on," he told his mask. "I ain't afraid of you."

As if on command, the mask soared towards him and connected with the rest of Tony's suit. Of course, Tony struck a pose with his completed suit, but that only made it burst into pieces again and Tony collapsed with it. To add insult to injury, the 'dunce robot' came over to spray him with the fire extinguisher.

"As always, sir. A great pleasure watching you work," J.A.R.V.I.S. said, as sarcastically as an AI could.

"I guess 72 hours is a long time between naps, eh?" I said, helping Tony up to his feet.

"Yeah... Um, welcome to the R & D Department?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Manhattan, New York**

"How is this the basics, Tony!?"

"Because I made this in a cave with limited materials and with the threat of being killed, so you should be fine."

"Fine. So... what first?"

Tony Stark's Research and Development Department was more like someone's converted garage, in my humble opinion. It was cold and had bare concrete floors, ceiling and walls, with automated robots wandering here and there. One of them was still wearing the dunce cap from last week. There were tool benches covered with these things called arc welders and solderers, microscopes, circuit boards, wires, various pieces of metal and numerous computer displays with blueprints I could barely hope to understand. Compared to Xandarian technology, this looked like electronic junk to me.

"You've got to twist the copper coils to the palladium torus core, and then fix it to the first titanium mount."

"Sure, right, of course. Makes total sense."

I pulled a face at the blueprints. This made little to no sense to me, even thought the blueprints looked ten times simpler than holographic models on Xandar. I took on baking quite easily, as well as driving, and I had no problems with advanced mathematics or sciences (according to boy genius Peter Parker), but mechanics? Technology? That was apparently not my expertise. It didn't help that Tony wasn't helping. He was just sitting there, expecting me to do miracles. I guess he figured that being an alien I'd have gone through this 'basic' stuff before learning what was harder. It appears that Xandar just skipped to the hard stuff. At least Tony was just asking me to assemble, not make this thing.

I stared down at the table, then back at the blueprints. There were several pieces that I could pick out from the ones on the table. First I grabbed this odd metal-like ring, which I assumed to be the palladium core and then picked out the copper wiring. Was there a specific way to coil this considering the core was so small? I stared back at the blueprints and frowned. There had to be a step between picking up the core and coiling, right?

"Yes, there are steps between the two," Tony said, as if reading my mind.

"Steps!? More than one!?" I groaned. "I hate mechanics and technology."

"You only hate it because you aren't automatically good at it."

"Shut up."

I stared back at the materials. Curiously, I gazed between the blueprints and a small glass ring. I took a small pair of tweezers and picked up the palladium core then gently placed it inside the glass ring. I shrugged. Seemed right to me. I grabbed some titanium wiring and formed it to the same size and shape at the palladium and put it on top of it, then I began coiling the copper around it at small intervals.

"Okay, so... I need this thing next, I think," I said, looking at a small foreign machine. "This is the soldering machine, right?"

"Yup. Do you know how it works?"

"Not particularly."

Tony stood from his spot and welded one of the coils as demonstration. I observed carefully, trying not to miss anything important, but it looked simple enough. Tony didn't really back off after he showed me how it worked, instead he began helping. Did that mean I was on the right track? No clue. But the help was appreciated. I proceeded to solder each coil of copper to the titanium and to the palladium, which took a long time considering how small this thing was and my obstinate perfectionist teacher who kept distracting me with information about what each step was going to allow the miniature ARC Reactor to do. I say distracting, but honestly all the information was quite useful. It took another hour for the thing to be assembled, but I was ecstatic when the thing began to glow its classic blue hue.

"You made this thing in a cave?" I said after heaving a sigh.

"Impressive, isn't it? Revel in my genius, Ilaria Sable," Tony said, not so modestly.

"Shut up. I'm more impressed that I got this. Baking and advanced science and mathematics are easy to me, but this is not. I don't think I have the mind for tech."

"Didn't you used to develop stuff on your alien planet, or whatever?"

"Well, yes, but it's far more advanced than this. This is like kindergarten to Xandarians, but it would also be incomprehensible. A long time ago we went through this, but now that we've got the basics down, we don't teach it. We just teach what we do now."

"So you skip all the 'how you got there' and just tell the kiddies that this works just because?" Tony said, heading over to another work bench for a glass of scotch.

"Pretty much."

I stared at the ARC Reactor that I built and narrowed my eyes at it.

"Did you get palladium decay-product poisoning, recently or at all?" I asked, turning back to Tony. He frowned. "Palladium decays when its energized this way, and it decays into rhodium which not only stains the skin but its also highly toxic if it gets into your bloodstream. I mean, it'll prevent this thing from rusting, but it'll kill you."

"You weren't lying when you said advanced science was your thing," Tony commented, sipping on his scotch. "See, I realised that too... after I was poisoned."

"Idiot. Rhodium poisoning is so rare even the best doctors can't help you. How'd you fix it?"

"Lithium dioxide."

"No... that would just alleviate the symptoms," I corrected him.

"I created a new element. Well, rediscovered it. My dead dad helped."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you serious?"

Tony shrugged.

"Wow, you're serious. So the ARC Reactor in your chest runs on something that... you have no clue what it is?"

"Yup."

"Can I have a sample?"

"I'm sorry, it's patented," Tony said, cocky.

"No it isn't, you idiot. Look, I just want to analyze its chemical structure. If your dad had access to it, then maybe I can find out where he got it or if it was used for other things. You know, I bet we use it on Xandar."

Tony looked at me, unsure.

"Come on! For purely scientific reasons! And I promise that I won't take it out of this room... or one where I can actually analyse its components and structure and maybe even some isotopes! Hell, how'd you even create it?"

"Pointed a laser at something," Tony shrugged.

I frowned and began pacing the room, thinking out loud.

"A laser? That's a bizarre and unheard form of nucleosynthesis. A variant of explosive nucleosynthesis, maybe? But those usually involve supernova... What kind of laser did you use?"

"Dunno, stole it from S.H.I.E.L.D. It nearly cut my house in half."

"How many coils?"

"Three. Four feet each."

I stared at nothing for a while, trying to do calculations in my head. It'd probably be faster if I wrote it down as the answers for each equation could be referenced visually, but as long as I didn't forget anything I was fine. Because of Peter, I'd begun to do these things more often - he didn't write anything down either.

"And you pointed it at Palladium?"

"Yeah. Well, after it cut my wall in half."

I think at that point I began writing calculations in midair, trying to visualise things. I took into account the power and heat of the laser, the density of the material, the time of exposure, and all other variables that could potentially influence the nucleosynthesis of the element. Eventually I gave up on mental calculations and scavenged some paper and a pen on Tony's desk, furiously writing down a boat-load of numbers. Tony came over and looked over my shoulder at what I was writing, making small approbation noises as he read what I wrote. I crossed some things out and added some others.

"Can I have the sample and a lab?"

When Tony said nothing, I looked to someone else.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. where's the lab?"

"The laboratory you need for this process is on the floor below, first door to your left," I heard J.A.R.V.I.S. say. "Would you like for me to provide a sample of the element for you, as well, Miss Sable?"

"That's be great, Jarv."

"Jarv? I call him Jarv!" Tony said, humourously outraged. "Are you taking my son away from me? How dare you, Sailor Moon. Betrayed I tell you, by my own son. J.A.R.V.I.S., you're grounded."

"I'm afraid I can't be grounded, sir. It's not part of my programming."

"He's giving me sass!"

I smiled and shook my head at Tony, then picked up my papers and headed towards the door. Tony quickly followed behind me as I made my way down to the lower level and entered the lab J.A.R.V.I.S. had designated. The desks and benches in the laboratory could only be described as archaic, almost as if his father was the last one to furnish it. They were like something out of the 1940's. But all of the equipment in it was state-of-the-art. There were stainless steel centrifuges, microscopes, PCR and QPCR machines. There was a huge walk-in refrigerator and several water baths. There was a double door autoclave and two enclosed areas with flow-hoods. There was a walk-in shower for chemical decontamination and several canisters of gases. The hum of machinery was like a soft whisper in the background. The aroma was mostly of the setting agar plates but there was an undertone of bleach. Across the back wall were floor to ceiling windows revealing a view across the city towers and spires that could only be described as stunning.

"You use this lab?" I asked, noting its exceptional cleanliness.

"No, Banner does," Tony replied.

"Bruce? He's here?" I said, spinning around.

"Wow, way too excited to see a man twice your age." Tony poked at a few tubes of clear liquid in their stand on the counter. "No, he's in... Stockholm? Conference or something. He'll be back in a few days. Managed to convince him to not go hide back in whatever hole he was in and come back to the science side of life. It was easier than expected."

"I'll put everything back in its place then."

"You don't have the element."

"I'm afraid she does, sir," I heard J.A.R.V.I.S. say. "Miss Sable, you'll find it labelled under 'Chemical Element Unknown' in the laboratory's storage."

"Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S."

I dropped my things on the counter and headed for the storage. Everything was clean and impressively organised, so it was easy to find the strange metal that Tony had discovered. I returned to find him lying down on the counter.

"Would you quit being a drama queen, Tin Can?" I laughed, looming over him.

"I can't help it. I have a knack for the dramatics. Do you think I could be an actor?"

"Get off the table Tony."

"Make me."

"Oh, I'll make you, trust me."

"You won't be making anyone."

I turned my head towards the door. A very pretty readhead was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and looking completely unimpressed.

"Pepper!" Tony said cheerfully.

"Pepper?" I said, confused. "Oh, Pepper! This is the famous Pepper Potts!"

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"Ilaria Sable," I said, extending my hand for her to shake. "I'm one of Iron Man's colleagues."

"Oh!" The woman's face brightened immediately. "You're the alien!"

"Yeah... That'd be me."

"Sorry, it's just - Tony... an unknown pretty woman..."

"I have renounced those days, I'll have you know," Tony said, still lying down on the counter.

"Totally get it. Though, all I was gonna make him do was get off the damn counter!" I frowned and turned back to Pepper. "Wait did you say pretty?"

"Don't tell me she has your ego," Pepper sighed, looking over at Tony.

"Close. But not quite. She's got this girl next door kinda vibe. Impeccable movie and music taste however," Tony said, swinging himself off the counter at last. I rolled my eyes. "You're here because?"

"Because Obi is here and needs to see you."

"Yeah, this doesn't concern me. I'm gonna get to my work," I said, awkwardly backing up towards the chair in front of the main workspace.

"Oh, you're a scientist?" Pepper asked.

"Sort of. I'm still learning, I suppose."

"Well, we'll leave you to it."

Pepper then dragged Tony out of the room, and I couldn't miss the playful bickering between the two on their way out. She was forceful that one - good for Tony. He needed someone to kick him in the ass once in a while.

I pulled a hair tie off my wrist and tied up my hair so that it was out of my face and then got to work. I examined the piece of metal that Tony had created. The first thing I noticed was that it was really light. It was a finger-sized piece of metal, but there was barely any more weight to it than a piece of cardboard. It was so shiny I could almost see myself in it, and when I brought a magnet to it, the magnet stuck.

"Odd..." I muttered. "Not many metals are magnetic.

I spent the next few hours pounding information into my head and crunching so many numbers that it gave me a headache. I ended up measuring the density of the metal, its electrical and temperature conductibility, its strength and malleability. I tallied up all the information and made myself a table.

"So... it's magnetic, super light, conducts electricity and heat quite well, and not at all malleable 'cause this thing won't break." I sighed loudly and checked the time on my phone. I'd been at this for three hours. "J.A.R.V.I.S?"

"Yes, Miss Sable?"

"I'm entering the properties of the element that I can determine without much work into the computer, can you isolate all the elements that fit the bill?"

"Of course."

I pushed off the counter and rolled to the computer desk. There were search boxes open on the computer already, so I input all the data necessary. All that came up was a big fat nothing. I ran my hands over my face in annoyance and exhaustion.

"Can you expand your search parameters?"

"What shall I include?"

"You've hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D., right? Can you extend your search to their databases?"

"Of course, Miss Sable."

I waited a few moments until I heard a few beeps. I turned back to the monitor.

"It seems to be cited twice in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, Miss Sable."

"Under what name?" I asked, tapping a few images on the screen.

I tapped mainly graphs and tables showing the previously calculated properties of the metal. It seemed calculations mirrored my own.

"It is cited under the name Vibranium."


End file.
